PPD Allergy: why you need to know about it

Six years ago, I took a trip to Montreal with my sister. It was her first time out of the province and we wanted to experience everything that the city had to offer. We toured various neighbourhoods, ate at some intriguing restaurants, attended some of the Pride festivities that were happening while we were there. At one point, we decided to relax and take a cruise.

My henna tattoo just as the reaction began.

We were having a great time and after the cruise, we decided to browse the little shops and vendors in Old Montreal. One of us spotted a black henna tattoo stand and decided that we should each get a tattoo for the fun of it. I’d had a red one done in Toronto a year prior to that and had a little reaction to it but it only lasted a day or two. It didn’t even occur to me that this would be a problem at all. After not being able to find a tattoo idea that I liked from the samples that the vendors had, I asked the guy to just freelance on me. “Can you just draw a woman in some subtle way on my hand?”, I asked him. As he got started, we talked a bit about art and drawing and he said that I should just go ahead and give it a try. So I did and I ended up tattoing about a third of the design myself. I also had him write something in Chinese letters (I can’t recall what it was). The two vendors were super friendly and when we were done, I grabbed a business card and we were on our way.

It was only a few years later when I ended up seeing a specialist for an unrelated issue. I had just returned from Vancouver with red bumps all over my arms. I had gone through five doctors in two different cities who went from “oh, looks like an Asian virus” to “probably bed bugs” to “gosh, I have no idea what that is!”. The specialist ruled it out as probably being bed bugs (and that’s apparently more common than you think, even in five star hotels!). Out of curiosity, I asked her about my reaction to henna tattoos. And she said, “you’re allergic to PPD”. She sent me off with an info sheet.

I was shocked. PPD, short for p-Phenylenediamine, is primarily found in hair dyes but also in other substances. Henna vendors use PPD as a cheaper alternative to the real, natural henna. Most PPD henna tattoos are black. You won’t know that you’re allergic to PPD until you come in contact with it, but more importantly, it damages you for life. The danger with triggering a PPD allergy is that you can become cross-sensitized to other products, like sunscreen with PABA in it, dyes in clothes, printing inks, photographic chemicals, local anaesthetics used by doctors and dentists (benzocaine, for example), even the dyes that occur naturally in the skin of oranges.

PPD has been banned by Health Canada but it doesn’t seem to have stopped street vendors from using black henna. After educating myself on this, I notice henna vendors more than I used to and when I spot them, they’re always using black henna. Why isn’t Health Canada sending out people to patrol cities during the summer and especially at festivals? It seems that some of these vendors don’t even know that what they’re doing is harmful. I suspect that most people don’t bother going back to the vendor to complain. I also suspect that most people end up at the doctor’s office and get sent home with cream like I did. They might never find out that their reaction is more serious than they think it is.

PPD is dangerous if it is directly applied to the skin. DO NOT GET A BLACK HENNA TATTOO. Even if the vendor tells you it’s safe, I wouldn’t recommend it.

In my case, a few days after dealing with the pain on my hand, I dug up the business card that I’d picked up from the henna vendors in Montreal. The phone number was wrong and the website listed on the card didn’t exist. These guys knew exactly what they were doing.

Read this for more information: The Dangers of Black Henna

If you happen to see a black henna vendor and want to report them, here’s what you can do (from the Health Canada website:)

“Please contact your nearest Health Canada Product Safety Office if you suspect that PPD is being used by a local vendor, or if you suspect you have suffered an adverse reaction from a “black henna” temporary tattoo. Call toll-free 1-866-662-0666 or send an email to cosmetics@hc-sc.gc.ca.”

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