Colouring/hair chemical agents-haidresser occupational hazard

[shootingstar]

Both hair stylists have gone to their doctors and been advised a number of things or change jobs.

No need to be peeved at me in particular.
Frankly I never paid any attention about hazards of prolonged use/exposure to hair chemical agents in the past --simply because my hair has never been coloured. Therefore I never looked into the issue previously.

Sorry if I sound like a dummy.

[PamNY]

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound peeved.

[shootingstar]

Apology accepted.

I feel sorry for my present hair stylist --hair styling is genuinely her calling. She loves making people happy by giving them a new cut. One can tell by her expert cutting and how she assesses her clients. I've had her for 7 yrs.

She is in her late 40's and hence has not obtained any other skill, a single Mom, turned grandmother recently.

And the salon she works in..is ok..abit of a factory with many other hair stylists.

Didn't have her chemical exposure problem before because she ran her own salon and it was just her in the salon. So her exposure to chemicals was way less.

[Grog]

In Quebec, hairstylists who become pregnant are preventively taken off work as soon as they find out they are pregnant, and benefit from some kind of insurance to cover for their loss of revenue. I believe it's primarily because of the chemicals used. It drives me nuts to see pregnant hairstylists at work here in British Columbia...

[artifactos]

My sister is a cosmetologist. She has never really complained about chemical contact or fumes, but that may be because the salon she works for has proper ventilation. It also may be because she's a smoker, and they don't affect her as much because of what she's already inhaling?

She has developed wrist problems as a result of the motions of her job, though, and she's only 22. She also cuts her fingers quite often, so her hands are usually covered with bandaids.

That said, she prefers doing color and would be disappointed if any of her clients stopped coloring their hair - it is the procedure she earns the most money for based on time investment (she works for a salon that has a standard low price for haircuts) and it allows her a little more artistic freedom.

[Grog]

There *must* be an environmentally friendly way to colour one's hair - there would obviously be a market for it - aside from henna. No?

[softthings]

any time you lighten hair you have to use a developer. bleach almost always comes in powder form, which always takes my breath away when i use it. i try to turn my head. some are "dust free" and paul mitchell has a "lighten up" cream bleach, but you still have to mix it with the developer. the developers come in different volumes or strengths. the higher the number the stronger the lift. even to just deposit color, ie go darker, you have to use a developer. i have always had sinus issues before i started doing color, and i am dealing with some sinusitus now, but, i really think it is from the pollen. i really think it is one of those things that affects everyone differently. oh, and our perms smell like the dump, thankfully, no one really gets those anymore. i would love to change careers though. for more reasons than the chemicals. hah!