A National Institutes of Health study found that women who dye and chemically straighten their hair have a higher risk of developing breast cancer than women who don’t.
The study which was published this week in the International Journal of Cancer tracked more than 46,000 women between the ages of 35 to 74 years of age over several years.
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Researchers found that women who regularly used permanent hair dye in the year before enrolling in the study were 9% more likely to develop breast cancer than women who didn’t dye their hair.
African American women had a 60% increased risk compared to an 8% risk for white women.
Researchers also found a link between chemical hair straighteners and breast cancer determining that women who used hair straighteners at least every five to eight weeks were about 30% more likely to develop breast cancer.
The study did not find an increased cancer risk in women who used semi-permanent or temporary hair dye.