Health Danger with Concealers

[alt9]

You need to be extremely careful when using concealers.

Even if you're not "purposely" or consciously inhaling the fibres, you still do inhale some.

Even if you hold your breath, you still do inhale some fibres.

After you shake the fibres out of the can, then sit (are suspended) in the air, and you will breath them in almost guaranteed.

 

If you continue using Toppik or any other concealer over time, this could cause lung disease; lung diseases cause increased risk of respiratory infections (like pneumonias) and could ultimately shorten life span and quality of life.

 

Fibers accumulate along the respiratory tract and could deposit in the alveoli. Your body has mechanisms to defend itself (like mucus and cilia), but over time it will cause damage to the lungs.

(I am in the medical field)

 

 

EVERYONE who uses concealers should wear a mask - I am not kidding - I do this myself.

You could buy a pack of masks from any hardware (or similar) store for very cheap.

This could, no joke, have long term effects on your health and life span - it's worth the investment for only a couple of dollars.

 

Concealers have not been around long enough to see their long term effects on health, but their are other journal published cases of people who have been exposed to fibres over long periods of times (e.g. cotton fibres in the workplace), and these people get lung disease. Again, lung diseases make it difficult to breath (dyspnea), highly increase risk of infections, and increase hospitalizations, and decrease lifespan.

 

I have absolutely no affiliation with the "mask industry", but am telling you this out of the goodness of my heart (you could buy any brand or company of mask you want - but make sure it's high grade N95 type which seals all around the mouth and protects from fibres like those in concealers)

 

Moreover, you should wear some sort of eye protector. The fibres could accumulate on the conjunctiva of your eyes. This is not something you'd notice, and again, the body has mechanisms to clean the fibres away (via the liquid of tears) but over time this could certainly be dangerous, and cause eye damage.

 

I use protective goggles and a N95 mask when I use my concealer.

If you have been or are planning to use a concealer for more than a couple of weeks, using a mask could literally have positive long term effects on your health, quality of life, and survival. I am not kidding by any means, and I could send you published, scientific, journal articles if interested.

 

This is actually a serious danger that is not at all discussed, and only realized it when I started using concealers myself recently. I'm in the medical field (do not want to disclose any specific info for sake of anonymity), but I am writing about this out of the goodness of my heart. Hope you take something useful from it.

 

Let me know if you have any questions - I'd be happy to help and give you more specifics on what kind of mask, etc.!

[Shampoo]

I wrote a post about this exact thing a year or so ago and didn't get much response. To be honest this was one of my main reasons for getting another transplant. I was using a lot of hair fiber almost everyday. I started having concerns about breathing the hair fibers over a long period. If you only need a little it may not be that bad. The hair fiber concealers work great, but after seeing the residue on my bathroom counter tops I started wondering how healthy it is to be breathing all that day after day? I wish there was a study available about this.

[alt9]

Thanks for the reply.

 

As I mentioned in my post, the effects would only be seen many years later. So a study on the long-term effects of fibres in concealers likely wouldn't be possible for many more (likely 10+) years.

 

HOWEVER, there are tons of studies on people inhaling fibres in other environments (as in work environments), and there is definite evidence that these cause a type of lung disease called pneumoconiosis.

 

All the concealer companies should recommend in the instructions that users wear a mask if the fibres are being used every day for an extended period of time.

[mahhong]

Whilst I think it's better to be sensible and think alt9's advice to use a mask is sensible, I'm not so sure there's a definite immediate medium or long term danger to using fibre-based concealers, though I fully admit I am not a scientist or healthcare professional so do not know for certain.

 

Dust-based disease from materials like asbestos are in large part due to the tiny, tiny nature of particles, much the same with silica dust. Concealer fibres are much bigger than this. It is a little concerning some of them contain silica, but the amounts are incredibly small. In the case of cotton fibre disease, that's mostly due to the bacterial and fungal elements to be found on the cotton itself.

 

I don't doubt that there may be some small risk, in the same way there is risk from deodorants, hairsprays, common dust, clothing fibres, second hand smoke etc. and that's why I think alt9's idea of using masks is actually a decent one - it's cheap and simple, so why not? However I'm not so sure there would be a directly measurable link between hair fibre usage and lung disease, even after decades of use. Certainly there are no direct comparisons to commonly known dangerous materials like silica, asbestos, cotton etc. My feeling is pretty much all hair fibre particles would be fairly easily caught in the respiratory system and removed successfully - over decades of use that may add up to some exposure and damage to the lungs, but I'm not sure it would be much more than living in a busy city, or using hairspray every day.

[gbhscot]

This seems pretty paranoid - most fibres are made from organic cotton derived keratin so not exactly a harmful thing to breathe in. We breathe in untold amounts of dust and different things every day, I really doubt that the hair fibres are going to make much of a difference. Same goes for the eyes.

[patrick1916]

Used them for seven years and had no issues at all.

[Shampoo]

As I mentioned in my post, the effects would only be seen many years later. So a study on the long-term effects of fibres in concealers likely wouldn't be possible for many more (likely 10+) years.HOWEVER, there are tons of studies on people inhaling fibres in other environments (as in work environments), and there is definite evidence that these cause a type of lung disease called pneumoconiosis. .

 

I have for the time being stopped using fiber concealers because of serious concern about how it could affect my lungs. I used fiber concealer 7 days a week and it was amazing when I wiped down my bathroom counter-top every few days how much fiber would be on the handi-wipe. I would like to see a study done on this, but I would think it can't be good to be breathing that everyday. I found a mask impractical to use, plus it still gets all over your counter-tops/floors. etc...

[hairuk84]

I am also reading into this but this does not seem to be a very talked about subject. My Nanogen box lists Silica as an ingredient, and although Toppik does not seem to list it as an ingredient - having read its ingredients online I believe Toppik also includes Silica.

 

Why would these companies add Silica in powder form, knowing that it increases the risk of lung cancer?

[Shampoo]

Why would these companies add Silica in powder form, knowing that it increases the risk of lung cancer?

 

It is a real concern if this is the same stuff in Nanogen:

 

"respirable silica dust causes lung disease and lung cancer. It only takes a very small amount of airborne silica dust to create a health hazard" Why is Silica Hazardous? - Silica Safe

 

This is "ingredient" list on Amazon:

 

Ingredients:

Keratin, Sodium C12-18 Alkyl Sulphate, Soyamidopropyl Betaine, Stearic Acid, Oleyl Betaine, Silica, Ceramide 1, PTFE, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Lecithin, Polysorbate-20, Benzophenone-3, Polyquaternium 22, Propanediol, Polyquaternium-95, Mica, Polyacrylate-15, EDTA, May Contain (+/-) Cl 15985 (FD&C Yellow No. 6), Cl 19140 (FD&C Yellow No. 5), Cl 16035 (FD&C Red No. 40), Cl 45380 (D&C Red No. 22), Cl 17200 (D&C Red No. 33), Cl 61570 (D&C Green No. 5), Cl 42053 (FD&C Green No. 3)

Cl 61565 (D&C Green No. 6), Cl 42090 (FD&C Blue No. 1), Cl15510 (D&C Orange No. 4).

 

https://www.amazon.com/Hair-Loss-Concealer-Fibers-Nanogen/dp/B004ULSZHA

[Shampoo]

Supposedly Caboki fiber concealer does not have "silica" in it.

 

Also a product called "Finally Hair" is supposed to not contain "silica"

 

I will do some research on this.

 

Anyone ever used Cabok or "Finally Hair"?

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Caboki-Concealer-Black-90-Day-Supply/dp/B00JIV463E/ref=sr_1_1_s_it?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1493240982&sr=1-1&keywords=caboki&th=1

Edited April 27, 2017 by Shampoo

[Shampoo]

I just noticed on the "Finally Hair" website it says the following about their fibers:

 

"No Ammonium Chloride or Silica - we care about your health"

 

I ordered a bottle to test and I will report back on how well it works.

 

http://finallyhair.com/hair-building-fibers/hair-loss-concealer-hair-fiber-applicator-bottle-28gr-99oz

[hairuk84]

I am trying out 'hair illusion' because it says its all human hair.

 

I simply don't get why these well known companies use stuff such as Silica when it is so dangerous. And I feel dumb for having used it for over 9 years..

[HL500]

I have used the stuff for probably 8 years myself and never worn a mask while applying because it just didn't cross my mind until recently about questioning whether inhaling it could be hazardous. I use a lot of the fibers and you absolutely inhale them It is evident if you blow your nose afterwards. The stuff is very effective but makes a complete mess everywhere.

 

I find the stuff in rooms that I don't even apply it in.

 

Have you found anything else about this subject. After reading about Silica this is concerning.

[HS, NP]

I found this forum doing a search on hair fibers and lung disease. I have been using Xfusion for 7 years now, daily. A year ago I started to notice some respiratory issues. I had a cold which moved to my chest and seemed to really hang on. I am a nurse practitioner and the symptoms reminded me of a smoker with lung disease. I have never smoked. I thought to myself, “How could I be damaging my lungs?”  My thoughts turned to the hair fibers. I bought a good respirator mask at a hardware store which I have been pretty faithful in using. I came down with a cold again a few days ago and it went immediately to my lungs. I have bronchitis, for sure. I will probably go get a chest X-ray if I don’t get better soon. I attribute my respiratory issues to the hair fibers. I will see if there is a better mask available and be even more vigilant at using it. Considering other options. 

[Melvin- Admin]

On 9/28/2019 at 8:51 PM, HS, NP said:

I found this forum doing a search on hair fibers and lung disease. I have been using Xfusion for 7 years now, daily. A year ago I started to notice some respiratory issues. I had a cold which moved to my chest and seemed to really hang on. I am a nurse practitioner and the symptoms reminded me of a smoker with lung disease. I have never smoked. I thought to myself, “How could I be damaging my lungs?”  My thoughts turned to the hair fibers. I bought a good respirator mask at a hardware store which I have been pretty faithful in using. I came down with a cold again a few days ago and it went immediately to my lungs. I have bronchitis, for sure. I will probably go get a chest X-ray if I don’t get better soon. I attribute my respiratory issues to the hair fibers. I will see if there is a better mask available and be even more vigilant at using it. Considering other options. 

Do you really think this is related to hair fibers? I live in LA, the air is probably way worse than the hair fibers themselves, which is essentially keratin. I highly doubt your issues are a cause from the hair fibers.

[ML488]

If the ingredients in hair fibers were truly a serious health hazard there would have been articles all over the internet about it when they first came out many years ago now. I don't see any.

[TEXAN35]

On 9/2/2021 at 7:42 PM, ML488 said:

If the ingredients in hair fibers were truly a serious health hazard there would have been articles all over the internet about it when they first came out many years ago now. I don't see any.

Well sometime these things take a long time before they get noticed. Remember talcum powder used to be very common for so many years until it was found to be carcinogenic. Not saying that concealers are necessarily dangerous but lack of articles is not exactly a stamp of safety check, specially for a product which is used by a very limited group. I use it but I think being careful and even wearing a mask while applying it is not necessarily a bad idea.

[Thegreatdane]

I became aware of Toppik hair fibers about a month ago and i have to say that it’s amazing products BUT it contains Silica! 
Now i have only been using it 4-5 times over a month and there are 3 downsides to it 

1) What a mess it makes! Everytime i use it, it’s all over my bathroom walls and floor. Takes an hour to clean up. 
 

2) No matter what, you’re gonna inhale some of the fibers, which means that you inhale Silica which is of course a huge downside and a health Hazard.

3) A bit of dust gets inside your eyes which CAN lead to Long term damage (if the fibers are used excessively).

 

If you absolutely have to use Toppik, I would recommend that you use a Professional mask that keeps out 99% of dust, FURTHERMORE use safety Goggles, ones that sits tight around your head so dust can’t get in. 
 

The absolut best solution is a hair transplant. Hair fibers should only be a temporary solution.

[HairRun]

I'm considering using this after my transplant in the ugly ducking phase. 

[Thegreatdane]

1 hour ago, HairRun said:

I'm considering using this after my transplant in the ugly ducking phase. 

Use it!! It’s an amazing product!! 
But use safety Goggles! You don’t want these small fibers to get into your eyes (talking from personal experience). But you’ll be alright as Long as your wash your eyes with water IF you feel a foreign object.

Also, i did some research and found out that there is soooo little Silica in this product so it Will take 20-25 years of EVERY DAY usage to feel side effects.

I use Toppik very often myself!

[HairRun]

On 4/26/2017 at 2:26 PM, Shampoo said:

I just noticed on the "Finally Hair" website it says the following about their fibers:

 

"No Ammonium Chloride or Silica - we care about your health"

 

I ordered a bottle to test and I will report back on how well it works.

 

http://finallyhair.com/hair-building-fibers/hair-loss-concealer-hair-fiber-applicator-bottle-28gr-99oz

It contains Methylisothiazolinone

 

"Methylisothiazolinone is a widely-used preservative; has been associated with allergic reactions. Lab studies on the brain cells of mammals also suggest that methylisothiazolinone may be neurotoxic."

 

 

[Thegreatdane]

I would urge EVERYONE to use Toppik with safety Goggles on!!

 

i used it a couple times without safety Goggles and my left eye had a Wild reaction to the chemicals. It was burning and watering for hours after i was done using Toppik. Went to the eye Doctor and he actually Said that it would be a good idea to use some kind of eye safety equipment when playing around with hair fibers in general.

[Melvin- Admin]

I’ve used fibers for years and never had any issues. 

[ciaus]

I've used fibers for years as well, they're a great safe management tool for guys dealing with hair loss.

Please read the common sense label before application "NOT for use on eyelashes, nose hairs, or ear hairs."  This is an example of why I'd never bother creating a product and trying to sell it.

 

[Thegreatdane]

On 8/27/2022 at 4:07 PM, Melvin- Moderator said:

I’ve used fibers for years and never had any issues. 

Do you use it everyday, also without any safety equipment?

Toppik is really a gamechanger! I couldn’t live without it