Metal detox: new plant-based filler protects hair from oxidative stress

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INTRODUCTION
Hair is exposed to many oxidative stresses from chemical hair treatments such as bleaching, perming or colouring (1), as well as from environmental factors such as exposure to urban pollution (2) that leads to hair weathering. Outdoor air pollution affects hair integrity alone or in synergy with UV radiation from the sun (3). As a result of these influences, proteins such as keratin, which are naturally present in the hair, wear out and become depleted. Hair becomes dry, dull, and brittle. Oxidation of keratin includes the production of glycated and carbonylated proteins (4), both of which cause keratin dysfunction. The presence of transition metals such as copper and iron in the hair fibre can also increase the potential for free radical oxidation of proteins and lipids (5, 6).