title: Chemical processing and shampooing impact cortisol measured in human hair.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The assessment of cortisol in hair has gained popularity as a means to measure retrospective hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity in a number of species; however, cortisol levels from human hair subjected to typical chemicals for cosmetic or hygienic purposes may be altered by the chemicals used. The purposed of this study was to determine if exposure of hair to chemical processing or shampooing impacts cortisol values.
  
  
  METHODS
  Human hair not exposed to prior chemical processing was cut from the posterior vertex region of the head of 106 human subjects as close to the scalp as possible. The hair sample was divided into 4-6 full-length clusters depending on quantity of hair available. Each hair sample was processed for baseline (native) cortisol and remaining clusters were exposed to five standard chemical hair treatments (Experiment 1) or were shampooed 15 or 30 times (Experiment 2). Hair was ground and cortisol levels were determined by enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Comparisons were made between native hair and processed hair using paired t-tests and Pearson correlation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hair cortisol as assessed by EIA was significantly altered by chemical processing but in somewhat different ways. Exposure to bleach (harshest exposure), demi-perm (least exposure) or 15-30 shampoos resulted in a significant decrease in cortisol level while exposure to varying percentages of peroxides increased cortisol measured. There were no differences in cortisol levels associated with sex, age or tobacco use in the native hair for this particular group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Chemical processing and frequent shampooing affect cortisol levels measured in hair. Chemically processed or excessively shampooed hair should be avoided when recruiting subjects for hair cortisol studies.
authors.affiliation: . Camille.hoffman@ucdenver.edu.
authors.forename: M Camille
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Hoffman
authors.forename: Laura V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Karban
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Benitez
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goodteacher
authors.forename: Mark L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Laudenslager
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D057886:Bleaching Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D003902:Detergents / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis*; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D057886:Bleaching Agents; D003902:Detergents; D006854:Hydrocortisone
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