Exposure to paraphenylendiamine in hairdressing parlours

Synopsis A certain number of hairdressing parlour employers have been taken to court because their employees allegedly suffered from lung allergies caused by the vapours from PPD (paraphenylendiamine) which allegedly developed when applying hair dyes. These conclusions may be reached if the specific hazards of the rubber and particularly leather and fur dyeing industry are extrapolated as is widely reported in literature, to hairdressing employees. The purpose of this study is to assess the actual exposure rate to PPD vapours of hairdressing employees during a working day, on the basis of the type and characteristics of the salon (small, medium and large), the number of dye applications per day and the chemical‐physical characteristics of the oxidation dyes. The results prove that, even under the hypothesis of experimental conditions pushed to the extreme, it is not reasonable to speak of exposure to PPD through the lungs of hairdressing employees.