Green Hair: Clinical, Chemical, and Epidemiological Study. A Case Report

January 1988 in “ PubMed ”

Dominique Blanc, M. Zultak, Amélie Rochefort, B. Faivre, M H Claudet, C Drobacheff

copper keratin cysteic acid anionic sulfonate groups algaecides hair bleaching hair waving green hair swimming pool water

TLDR Swimming in pools with high copper can turn hair green, especially if hair is damaged.

A 36-year-old blond woman experienced green hair discoloration after exposure to swimming pool water, which was found to have a high copper content of 9.94 ppm due to algaecides. Her hair showed elevated copper levels at 3,900 ppm and damage resembling a "dead tree trunk" under microscopic examination. The study suggested that hair damage from treatments like waving or bleaching increased copper adsorption due to changes in keratin content. The case highlighted the importance of proper pool maintenance and reviewed existing epidemiological, chemical, and therapeutic data on green hair.

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Green Hair: Clinical, Chemical, and Epidemiological Study. A Case Report

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