WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW IF YOU ARE DOING KERATIN ON YOUR HAIR

 

Keratin treatment is quite popular among women who want to tame their hair. But there are indications that it contains a dangerous substance.

If you have a thick scalp that belongs to the split hair category, you've definitely had the experience of being choked at some point. To have surrounded your face to the extent of oppressing you, to act as blinders limiting your field of vision. The autonomy they enjoy in the humidity is something impressive! Adequate hydration is a certain solution, unless of course it rains for days. Then there is no salvation. Unless you have done the so-called keratin.

Keratin is a protein found in nails, skin and hair. When it is at low levels, the result is damaged and dehydrated hair.

Thus, the relative treatment comes to balance the situation, shielding the hair with a keratin film. It is a method that includes different types to straighten and smooth the hair according to its needs. There is a moment in the process that you can call emotional: when the product is applied that temporarily changes the shape of the hair fibers so that they are less prone to frizz, you cry!

To help you understand, I'll make an analogy: The technique used is like when you "shield" a steak to keep its juices while cooking. That is, after the hairdresser deposits the product, she leaves it for 20 minutes and then "seals" it with heat. For two days you don't bathe and then for up to 3 months you have a tamed cup, as long as you use salt-free shampoo.
The Chemicals in Keratin Treatment

There are different types of keratin on the market with different ingredients. One commonly used in the past is a toxic chemical called formaldehyde. If inhaled it can even cause nausea, and it can potentially increase the risk of certain types of cancer in a person exposed to high doses or for long periods of time. That is why its use as an active ingredient in the specific products was banned in Brazil, Canada, the USA and the European Union.

One of the potentially safer ingredients that have replaced formaldehyde is glyoxylic acid. Recent studies show that they may be associated with kidney damage. The last one took place in Israel. The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine . In a sample of 26 people with kidney damage, it was found that 11 had used products containing glycolic acid derivatives.
The experiment

The researchers conducted an experiment on mice, in which they applied a related hair straightening product containing 10% glyoxylic acid. They repeated the same procedure using petroleum jelly on five more mice, which acted as a comparison group. The next day, the scientists found that the mice with glyoxylic acid carried in their urine "elongated" crystals of a chemical compound called calcium oxalate monohydrate. They were not present in the group of rodents in which petroleum jelly was used.

It was found that humans metabolize glyoxylic acid to oxalic acid, which binds calcium to form calcium oxalate crystals. If these build up to high enough levels, they can cause kidney damage and lead to the symptoms listed.

The crystals in the mice's urine resembled those seen in people who have ingested the toxic alcohol ethylene glycol, a substance found in many household and industrial products, including antifreeze. These crystals are needle-shaped and can injure the kidney at a microscopic level, causing kidney failure in large enough poisonings.

The same mice also had significantly higher levels of creatinine in their blood within 28 hours of exposure, as well as dense deposits of calcium oxalate monohydrate in their kidneys, unlike the petroleum jelly group.

After all this, the researchers suggested that the specific products should be avoided and possibly "discontinued from the market". It was emphasized that further research is needed.