[thedoc (OP)]

Joe O asked the Naked Scientists:
   
My spouse uses hairspray almost every day.  Over time we notice a coating on the chair she uses and on the table and the floor.  Doesn't this "coating" end up in her lungs as well?  Has anyone ever performed a study of the effects on the lungs of prolonged hairspray usage?

What do you think?

[KeetKeet]

Hi, I have this same concern since I use hairspray every day as well. I started using more natural hairsprays to cut down risks--check out "Skin Deep" on the Environmental Working Group's website:

newbielink:http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ [nonactive]

The EWG researches the "risk level" of a TON of different cosmetics. I switched to Alba Botanicals hairspray after looking at the ratings. It's a more expensive product but I figure that since I use it a lot I want to be safer. Hope that helps even though I didn't really answer your question. You may be able to ask someone on the EWG site for more specifics on research, though.

[Pecos_Bill]

"“Live fast, die young and leave a good-looking corpse!
"Nick Romano", Knock on any door - 1949 film noir classic

How could you possibly imagine that it isn't harmful to breathe that [uh-oh]?

Those lungs of yours won't grow back, you know.

Here is a description of the ingredients (1.) Note that one of them is used to glue up plywood.  Are pigtails and french braids maybe sounding better to you now?

I will tell you something about "glamour". I once had a patient who was uglier than a mud fence. No doubt she needed a pork chop in her pocket for the dog to play with her.

This woman could have been dropped into the Gobi desert and within 24 hours there would be some clown buzzing around here like a fruit fly. Besides that she was as fertile as the Kansas plains. She would inevitably be carrying some pediatric catastrophe within a few months.

Maybe you should bear that in mind before you shell out your retirement money on pulmonary contaminants to be "attractive".



(1.) http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/consumer/faq/hairspray-ingredients.shtml

[mohsinkhan]

Briefly inhaling a small amount of hairspray might cause some coughing, choking, or difficulty catching the breath. ... The most irritating products were bleaching powders and hairspray. The study also found that some of the hair stylists had decreased lung function compared to people who did not work with these products. But the WBM International's hair spray in Pakistan is a natural product. which does not contain any harmful ingredients. So, it is safe for you to use.