While salon clients only come into contact with ammonia in hair color once every few weeks, hair colorists work with it on a daily basis. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry classifies ammonia as a known toxicant and carcinogen. It is one of the main common causes of respiratory disorders, cardiovascular diseases and many types of cancer. The average salon professional’s career will only last 8 years because it will be cut short by illnesses related to breathing, depression, obesity or chronic fatigue syndrome; all of which have been closely linked to chronic ammonia exposure.

Ammonia is used in hair coloring to lift the hair cuticle, allowing the pigments to penetrate the hair shaft and oxidize to create a permanent color effect. All permanent hair dyes contain an alkaline agent that allows the hair color to penetrate the cortex of the hair. However, ammonia is a corrosive caustic that irreversibly damages the cuticle during the hair coloring process. It also damages the hair protein tyrosine which is responsible for regulating the production of melanin, which is the hair’s natural color pigment. Damaging the protein tyrosine makes it impossible for the hair to “keep” both its natural and artificial color, which is why the use of ammonia-based color inevitably leads to color fading. Ultimately, ammonia corrodes both the sebaceous glands and hair follicles on the scalp, causing hair to become brittle and weak.

Although many salon professionals have accepted ammonia as a “necessary evil” in permanent hair color, there are actually very good alternatives. Two of these alternative alkaline agents are ethanolamine and sodium carbonate. These two alternatives, although substantially more expensive as a raw material, are much more suitable and safer options than ammonia in hair coloring. While many manufacturers have embarked on large-scale campaigns to raise questions about the safety of these two ingredients, these efforts have been driven entirely by their preference for cheaper ingredients that bring them higher profits rather than your honest concern for health or well-being.

It is interesting to note that both ethanolamine and sodium carbonate have been used for decades in demi-permanent hair dyes. The purity, or grade, of ethanolamine or soda ash needed to sufficiently lift the cuticle is much higher in permanent hair color than in demi-permanent color, making the cost burden higher. However, the health, performance, and pleasure (neither ethanolamine nor soda ash share the same noxious, putrid odor of ammonia) compared to ammonia cannot be ignored. The following benefits of ethanolamine and sodium carbonate should be considered when selecting a healthier and better performing alternative to ammonia-based hair color:

Ethanolamine: Ethanolamine is by far the safest alkaline hair coloring agent available today. Ethanolamine is an organic compound naturally found in coconut oil and is a primary amine and primary alcohol. While some accuse ethanolamine of being a “silent substitute” for ammonia due to its lack of odor, this is simply an uninformed categorization. Ethanolamine actually has the same smell as ammonia. However, some innovative hair care companies have developed advanced hair dye technologies that suspend ethanolamine molecules in a base of soybean oil. By doing so, they can soften the cuticle and prevent the ethanolamine from vaporizing as a gas, thereby eliminating both the odor and any damage to the cuticle. It is the primary alcohol characteristic of ethanolamine that makes it possible for it to be suspended in a soybean oil base, as neither sodium carbonate (a primary salt) nor ammonia (a primary base) will dilute with the oil.

Ethanolamine has a tendency to gently swell the hair cuticle rather than causing the corrosion associated with ammonia. It will not destroy the hair’s protein tyrosine, disable the hair’s ability to “hold” natural or permanent pigment, damage hair follicles or oil glands on the scalp, or irritate sensitive scalps. Ethanolamine poses no health risk, has a molecular weight large enough to be absorbed through the pores and follicles of the scalp and into the bloodstream, and (when suspended in an organic oil such as soy) it does not vaporize and actually has a deep conditioning effect on the cuticle.

Hair dye grade ethanolamine, of the quality needed to produce a permanent hair dye effect, is cost prohibitive for most hair dye manufacturers. As such, the only permanent hair color lines that use ethanolamine as their primary alkaline agent are the professional-only advanced hair color lines.

Sodium Carbonate: more commonly known as “soda ash” or “washing soda” is a strong base commonly used in swimming pools to neutralize the acidic effects of chlorine and is also used as a water softener. Sodium carbonate is a sodium salt, so its use in hair dyes has been limited to demi-permanents because its damage to the hair cuticle is almost as bad as ammonia. Although soda ash is a much healthier option than ammonia, it has allowed various semi-permanent colors to be mass-manufactured and marketed to younger populations. However, because sodium carbonate does not improve the overall performance of hair dye and the concentrations necessary to lift the cuticle enough to produce a permanent hair color effect, sodium carbonate has not been adopted in no professional grade permanent hair dye at present.