Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Jan;66(1):68-70.
doi: 10.1136/oem.2008.041053. Epub 2008 Sep 19.

Use of hair colouring products and risk of multiple myeloma among US women

S Koutros  1 , D Baris, E Bell, T Zheng, Y Zhang, T R Holford, B P Leaderer, O Landgren, S Hoar Zahm
Affiliations

Use of hair colouring products and risk of multiple myeloma among US women

S Koutros et al. Occup Environ Med. 2009 Jan.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the association between personal hair dye use and risk of multiple myeloma among women.

Methods: A population-based case-control study of 175 cases of multiple myeloma and 679 controls. Cases and controls were interviewed regarding the type and colour of hair colouring product used, age at first use, age use stopped, duration, and the frequency of use per year. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using unconditional logistic regression to compare never users with four exposure groups: all users, ever semi-permanent dye users, ever permanent dye users and dark permanent dye users (most frequent use).

Results: No association was found between ever reporting hair colouring product use and myeloma risk among all users (OR 0.8; 95% CI 0.5 to 1.1), semi-permanent dye users (OR 0.7; 95% CI 0.4 to 1.2), permanent dye users (OR 0.8; 95% CI 0.5 to 1.1) or dark permanent dye users (OR 0.8; 95% CI 0.5 to 1.3). There were no significant associations among women who used hair dyes before 30 years of age, started use before 1980, had >or=240 lifetime applications, or had used dark permanent dye for 28 or more years.

Conclusion: No evidence of an association between hair colouring product use and myeloma risk was found. However, given the conflicting body of literature on hair colouring product use and risk of multiple myeloma, this question should be further evaluated in larger studies or consortia, and in high risk groups.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Rowley M, Van Ness B. Molecular Genetics in Multiple Myeloma and Related Disorders. In: Wiernik PH, Goldman JM, Dutcher JP, Kyle RA, editors. Neoplastic Disease of the Blood. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2003. pp. 477–487.
    1. De Roos A, Baris D, Weiss N, Herrinton L. Multiple Myeloma. In: Schottenfeld D, Fraumeni JF Jr, editors. Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention. New York: Oxford University Press; 2006. pp. 919–945.
    1. Guidotti S, Wright WE, Peters JM. Multiple myeloma in cosmetologists. Am J Ind Med. 1982;3:169–171. - PubMed
    1. Spinelli JJ, Gallagher RP, Band PR, Threlfall WJ. Multiple myeloma, leukemia, and cancer of the ovary in cosmetologists and hairdressers. Am J Ind Med. 1984;6:97–102. - PubMed
    1. Brown LM, Everett GD, Burmeister LF, Blair A. Hair dye use and multiple myeloma in white men. Am J Public Health. 1992;82:1673–1674. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types