Hair stylists can develop occupational asthma and rhinitis (chronic runny nose) from exposure to chemicals called persulphate salts in hair bleaching agents, researchers say.Italian researchers performed allergy tests, lung function tests, and specific inhalation challenge on 47 hair stylists suspected of having occupational asthma. They had been exposed to persulphate salts in bleaching products for an average of seven years.As reported in the November issue of the journal Chest, the study found that over half (51 percent) of the hair stylists were diagnosed with occupational asthma and 87.5 percent of those cases were attributed to exposure to persulphate salts. The other cases were attributed to permanent hair dyes (8.3 percent) and latex (4.2 percent).
