[wrongbcells]

Hairspray and multiple myeloma

by wrongbcells on Tue Jan 31, 2017 11:52 pm

Hello,

What are the current thoughts on the relationship between hairspray and multiple myeloma? The authors of the study referenced below found an increased risk of 62% in employees of the hairdressing industry.

Does anyone know if this has been followed up on? I could not find much on this.

Thanks,
George

Reference:

Takkouche, H, et al, "Risk of cancer among hairdressers and related workers: a meta-analysis," International Journal of Epidemiology, 2009 (full text of article)

Abstract:

Background - Hairdressers and allied occupations represent a large and fast growing group of professionals. The fact that these professionals are chronically exposed to a large number of chemicals present in their work environment, including potential carcinogens contained in hair dyes, makes it necessary to carry out a systematic evaluation of the risk of cancer in this group.

Methods - We retrieved studies by systematically searching Medline and other computerized databases, and by manually examining the references of the original articles and monographs retrieved. We also contacted international researchers working on this or similar topics to complete our search. We included 247 studies reporting relative risk (RR) estimates of hairdresser occupation and cancer of different sites.

Results - Study-specific RRs were weighted by the inverse of their variance to obtain fixed and random effects pooled estimates. The pooled RR of occupational exposure as a hairdresser was 1.27 (95% CI 1.15–1.41) for lung cancer, 1.52 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.11–2.08] for larynx cancer, 1.30 (95% CI 1.20–1.42) for bladder cancer and 1.62 (95% CI 1.22–2.14) for multiple myeloma. Data for other anatomic sites showed increases of smaller magnitude. The results restricted to those studies carried out before the ban of two major carcinogens from hair dyes in the mid-1970s were similar to the general results.

Conclusions - Hairdressers have a higher risk of cancer than the general population. Improvement of the ventilation system in the hairdresser salons and implementation of hygiene measures aimed at mitigating exposure to potential carcinogens at work may reduce the risk.

[Mike F]

Re: Hairspray and multiple myeloma

by Mike F on Fri Feb 03, 2017 12:45 pm

Hi George --

Just from the abstract, it appears to me that the authors believe that hair dye rather than hair spray is the most likely cause of the increased cancer risk. If you search PubMed for "hair dye cancer", there are a fair number of publications that show up. I wasn't able to find much under "hair spray cancer", although there was one that looked at vinyl chloride propellant and liver cancer in hair­dressers.

[countrygirl]

Re: Hairspray and multiple myeloma

by countrygirl on Sat Feb 04, 2017 7:23 pm

Definitely the hair dye!