A number of beauty salons across Abu Dhabi are offering henna tattoos using dangerous black henna, despite repeated warnings and threats of closure.
Abu Dhabi Municipality has two campaigns planned for before the end of Ramadan to highlight the problem ahead of the Eid Al Fitr celebrations, when many women apply black henna.
Dermatologists in the city’s hospitals say that every month they have to treat a number of women whose skin has been damaged by black henna tattoos.
The problems stem, they say, from the use of the dye para-phenylenediamine (PPD), which adds a black tint to the henna tattoo. It is also used in black hair dyes. It can cause blistering, open sores, scarring and life-threatening health problems if someone has an allergic reaction to it.
Once an allergic reaction is triggered, further exposure to PPD can be fatal.
Hairdressers, who handle PPD every day, must wear gloves to avoid becoming overly sensitive to the compound, Dr Othman said.
Henna is a core element of Emirati women’s make-up and has been used for millennia. The ancient Egyptians used it as a hair dye and today it is in common use around the world for both hair colouring and tattoos.
Despite the number of cases at dermatological departments in hospitals, the municipality said that very few cases of the use of black henna had been reported to it in the last two years.
via The National.
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