Received: 6 February 2024 | Revised: 13 June 2024 | Accepted: 21 June 2024

DOI: 10.1111/jocd.16442

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Effects of ultraviolet rays and particulate matter on hair

porosity in damaged hair

Sung Jae Yang MS | Hye Ju Yu BS | Jinyong Lee PhD | Seung Jin Hwang MS |
Nae-­Gyu Kang PhD | Eui-­Taek Jeong MS

R&D Center, LG Household & Health Care

(LG H&H), Seoul, Republic of Korea Abstract
Background: With growing interest in hair health, researchers are exploring aspects
Correspondence
Eui-­Taek Jeong, R&D Center, LG beyond the surface qualities of hair, such as its porous inner structure. While previous
Household & Health Care (LG H&H), 70
studies have focused on the effects of treatments such as perming and hair dying on
Magokjungang 10-­ro, Gangseo-­gu, Seoul
07795, Republic of Korea. hair porosity, less emphasis has been paid to the effects of harmful environmental fac-
Email: etjeong@lghnh.com
tors such as ultraviolet (UV) rays and particulate matter on the porous nature of hair.
Aims: The aim of this study was to bridge this gap by investigating how UV rays and
particulate matter affect hair porosity in different ways. Our study could help elu-
cidate how these external factors influence hair health and shed light on previously
unknown aspects of hair porosity.
Methods: Hair tresses were bleached, cut into 1 cm-­long sections, and stained with
methylene blue. The sections were then irradiated with UV light or exposed to par-
ticulate matter.
Results: Bleached hair absorbed more methylene blue than normal hair. UV radiation-­
induced hair porosity occurred at 3 h after irradiation and increased with time.
Particulate matter alone did not affect the porosity of the damaged hair; however, in
combination with UV irradiation, it substantially increased hair porosity.
Conclusion: Environmental challenges such as a depleted ozone layer and increasing
pollution may increase hair porosity, which can be prevented by maintaining healthy
hair.

KEYWORDS
hair porosity, methylene blue staining, particulate matter, UV rays

1 | I NTRO D U C TI O N destruction makes hair vulnerable to damage.1 Cuticle damage is

caused by the use of chemical products such as perm, color, and
Generally, healthy hair contains approximately 9% moisture by bleach, as well as environmental factors like UV and heat, making
weight and is composed of 80%–90% protein. The cuticle, cor- cuticle management essential in hair care.
tex, and medulla are the structural components of the hair shaft. Cuticle injury disrupts the primary defense mechanism of hair,
The cuticle acts as the hair's outermost protective barrier, and its causing physical and chemical damage to the structure of the

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.
© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.

J Cosmet Dermatol. 2024;00:1–5.  wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jocd | 1

2 | YANG et al.

cortex and medulla, resulting in the loss of lipids and amino acids 2.3 | Methylene blue staining
2,3
from the hair. The medulla, the inner part of the hair, has a low
cysteine level and high acidic and basic amino acid levels, making The hair tresses were cut into 1 cm sections, and then hair thick-
it highly reactive to acids and alkalis and susceptible to chemical ness was measured using Vernier calipers (MDC-­25PX; Mitutoyo
damage from bleaching treatments.4,5 Damage to the hair cortex Corp, Kanagawa, Japan). Sections of thickness 0.07–0.08 mm were
and medulla increases porosity, resulting in large and small voids selected for the experiment.
within the hair. 2 Methylene blue (MB) staining was used to assess the degree of
Hair porosity has a negative effect on the hair.6 In addition to damage to the bleached hair as follows: 10 hair strands were soaked
having a robust cuticle layer, healthy hair has relatively low po- in 1 mL 0.25% MB solution in an Eppendorf tube, vortexed for 30 s,
rosity, which makes the hair highly reflective of light, giving it a and subjected to heat treatment for 6 min in a 45°C incubator.
shiny appearance.7 In contrast, hair subjected to treatments such The outer surface of the dyed hair sample was wiped with a
as bleaching and perming, which cause hair porosity, has low lus- paper wipe, and the hair was immersed in 1 mL of MB extraction
ter and tensile strength. Cuticle damage following such treatments solution to extract the MB solution adsorbed on the hair sample.
8
makes hair look dull due to poor light reflection. Hair porosity can Following 5 min of extraction, 200 μL of each sample was placed
be mitigated by filling empty cavities with shampoos rich in amino in a 96-­well plate, and the absorbance was measured at an optical
acids.9 density (OD) of 660 nm with a microplate reader (SpectraMax M2e;
Ultraviolet (UV) light, a well-­known external factor that causes Molecular Devices, San Jose, CA, USA).
aging, has been linked to a variety of health problems owing to its A UV irradiator (XPS-­300 Xenon Lamp Power Supply; Solarlight,
high energy level.10 In polluted environments, a considerable amount Glenside, PA, USA) was used to irradiate the hair sample at an in-
of particulate matter attaches to the hair surface and negatively af- tensity of 7.2 mW/cm2. The hair samples were incubated with the
11,12
fects the scalp, causing hair loss. With increasing interest in the particulate matter mimic, JIS Z 8901 Test Powders 1 Class 11(APPIE,
porous structure of hair, research on hair porosity caused by hair Kyoto, Japan), a widely used material for fine dust testing. It contains
treatments has increased. However, research on environmental various sizes of particulate matter. The treated hair was washed
factors in this regard is lacking. Therefore, in this study, we aimed under running water, dried, and stained with MB, and hair porosity
to evaluate hair porosity caused by UV light and particulate matter, was assessed using a microplate reader.
which have detrimental effects on humans.

2.4 | Hair porosity increase by hazardous

2 | M ATE R I A L S A N D M E TH O DS environmental conditions

2.1 | Materials Hair porosity represented by the absorbance value at OD 660 nm

was measured using MB staining. The rate of hair porosity increase
Virgin hair was provided by Beaulax (Tokyo, Japan). Sodium laureth sul- due to hazardous environmental conditions was estimated using the
fate (SLES) was obtained from LG Household and Healthcare (Seoul, following formula:

Hair porisity (treated with particulate matter + UV rays) − Hair porosity (normal hair)
Rate of porosity increase (%) = × 100
Hair porosity (normal hair)

Korea). Blondor Multi-­Blonde powder and Koleston 6% crème devel- 2.5 | Statistical analysis
oper were supplied by Wella (Weiterstadt, Germany). Methylene blue
was procured from Sigma-­Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA). All data were statistically analyzed using the open-­source software
Jamovi v.1.19 [The Jamovi Project (2020)], and results with p < 0.05
were considered significant.
2.2 | Preparation of chemically bleached hair
(damaged hair)
3 | R E S U LT S A N D D I S CU S S I O N
For bleaching treatment, the hair was washed twice with SLES;
then, Blondor Multi-­Blonde powder (Wella, Germany) and Koleston 3.1 | Absorbance of MB-­stained bleached hair
6% crème developer (Wella, Germany), mixed at a 1:2 ratio were
applied to the hair at a weight equivalent to twice that of the hair. MB is often used to stain live cells; it can also be used to stain hair.
After 15 min, the tresses were rinsed for 2 min under running water, According to previous studies, the more damaged the hair, the more
washed with SLES, and completely dried using a hair dryer. This pro- the amount of MB adsorbed and the greater the MB absorbance
cess was repeated five times. value.13,14 In this study, hydrogen peroxide, a bleaching agent, was
YANG et al. | 3

used to induce damage to normal hair. Hydrogen peroxide induces

chemical changes in the cell membrane complex of hair and destroys
the lipid components, creating multi-­porous damage within the hair.
Assessment of the degree of hair porosity between normal and
bleached hair using MB staining revealed that the average MB absor-
bance of bleached hair (0.359) was 6.9 times higher than that of normal
hair (0.052; Figure 1). Consistent with our findings, previous studies have
also shown that bleached hair absorbs more MB than normal hair owing
to multi-­porous damage within the hair. The increased absorbance of
bleached hair observed in this study can be attributed to the substantial
amount of MB penetrating the pores generated during bleaching.

3.2 | Hair porosity caused by UV exposure

F I G U R E 2 Influence of UV irradiation on hair porosity.
Gradually increasing optical density (OD) values were observed
Damaged hair was irradiated with UV light to measure the changes
as UV treatment time increased. Statistically significant results
in the porosity of damaged hair over time. After 3 h of UV irradiation,
were observed when the UV treatment was applied after 3 h. The
substantial changes in the porosity of hair occurred, and the degree results are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation of three
of hair damage gradually increased until 7 h. independent experiments. *p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001 compared with
The average absorbance of the control group was 0.239 and that the UV (−) hair control.
of the 1-­h UV treatment group increased marginally to 0.272, but the
difference was not significant (p > 0.05). The average absorbance of
the 3-­h UV treatment group was 0.317, which significantly (p < 0.05)
exacerbated hair porosity. When UV treatment was applied for 5
and 7 h, the average absorbance increased linearly to 0.410 and
0.492, respectively (Figure 2). Taken together, these findings demon-
strated that UV radiation-­induced hair porosity occurred after 3 h
and increased subsequently in a time-­dependent manner.

3.3 | Hair porosity resulting from particulate matter

Damaged hair was exposed to different concentrations (25–100 ppm)

of a particulate matter mimic containing high levels of heavy metals

F I G U R E 3 Influence of particulate matter on hair porosity.

No statistically significant changes in optical density (OD)
were observed when damaged hair was treated with varying
concentrations of particulate matter for 24 h. The results are
expressed as the mean ± standard deviation of three independent
experiments. N.S, not significant compared with the particulate
matter (−) hair control.

for 24 h. No hair porosity was observed at any of the treatment con-

centrations (Figure 3), suggesting that particulate matter alone does
not cause hair porosity.
The absorbance increased in the 25-­and 50-­ppm particulate
matter treatment groups but decreased in the 75-­and 100-­ppm par-
ticulate matter treatment groups; however, the changes did not show
F I G U R E 1 Increased porosity of damaged hair. A significant
any clear trend. Furthermore, no significant difference (p > 0.05) was
increase in optical density (OD) was observed in damaged hair. The
results are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation of three observed in absorbance between the treated and untreated control
independent experiments. **p < 0.01 compared with the normal groups. Together, these findings showed that particulate matter
hair control. does not affect the porosity of damaged hair.
4 | YANG et al.

3.4 | Effect of UV irradiation on particulate with light-­colored hair.17 According to recent studies, decreased hair
matter-­exposed hair porosity can lead to darker, healthier hair, which enables the creation
of more vibrant and stylish hair-­dos. The importance of healthy hair
As particulate matter did not induce hair porosity, we investigated is being increasingly acknowledged. Recently, several studies have
the effects of UV irradiation on hair that was both damaged and shown that applying plant-­based oils can improve hair porosity.18–20
had adhering particulate matter. Hair porosity occurred after 1 h Our findings provide further supporting evidence for the harmful ef-
of irradiation. This is in contrast to the observation in the previous fects of UV rays and particulate matter on the appearance of hair,
experiment, where substantial hair porosity occurred after 3 h of suggesting the need for the development and commercialization of
UV irradiation at the same intensity (Figure 4). In addition, as the hair products that can improve hair porosity affected by UV rays and
particulate matter treatment concentration increased from 50 to particulate matter.
100 ppm, greater hair porosity occurred. The calculated hair poros-
ity increased from 57.2% to 139.3%. AU T H O R C O N T R I B U T I O N
The above results could be because heavy metals in particulate S. J. Y., H. J. Y., and J. L. conducted the in vitro hair application stud-
matter absorbed UV light and released radicals. A previous study on ies, analyzed the results, and participated in the writing and editing
radical release by metal ions and hair damage caused by UV irradi- of the manuscript. E. T. J. and S. J. H. conceived and designed the
ation has reported that hair absorbs copper ions in tap water; the experiments and logic of the present study and participated in the
higher the concentration of copper ions, the more the amount of writing, editing, and correspondence of the manuscript. N. K. and
hair proteins eluted when irradiated with UVA, resulting in hair po- S. G. P. contributed to supervision and project administration. All
rosity.15 Particulate matter, similar to copper ions, has been found to the authors have read and agreed to the published version of the
generate radicals,16 which suggests that the released radicals form manuscript.
pores inside hair weaken the structure and induce porosity.
AC K N OW L E D G M E N T S
The authors sincerely thank all members of the Skin & Cosmetics
4 | CO N C LU S I O N Efficacy Research Lab for their invaluable assistance.

Particulate matter, a harmful environmental factor, has a synergistic F U N D I N G I N FO R M AT I O N

effect with UV radiation, exacerbating hair porosity. This study dem- None declared.
onstrated that particulate matter pollution does not cause hair poros-
ity; instead, it increases the rate of porosity in hair exposed to UV DATA AVA I L A B I L I T Y S TAT E M E N T
radiation. Environmental problems such as ozone depletion and pol- The data that support the findings of this study are available on re-
lution, especially particulate matter pollution, are aggravating. High quest from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly avail-
hair porosity is common in elderly individuals with gray hair or those able due to privacy or ethical restrictions.

F I G U R E 4 Impact of UV irradiation on hair porosity in the presence of particulate matter. The damaged hair was subjected to uniform UV
irradiation intensity while simultaneously exposed to varying concentrations of particulate matter for 1 h each. Notably, co-­treatment with
UV irradiation and particulate matter at distinct concentrations led to a remarkable elevation in the optical density (OD) values, suggesting
a synergistic effect. The results are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation of three independent experiments. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001
compared with the untreated hair control.
YANG et al. | 5

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