Oct. 2, 2006 — After re-creating a hair dye used during the Roman Empire, scientists have reported that the technique early Greeks and Romans used to color their hair had some things in common with modern nanotechnology.
The authors of a study in the current issue of the journal Nano Lettersnot only found that ancient hair dyes actually work, but that they are comparable to products, such as Grecian Formula, available today.
Since nanocrystals form within hair during the blackening, the findings also suggest quantum physicists could use hair, or hair-like fibers, to grow quantum dots — tiny controlled atoms — for use in high-tech lasers, sensors, computers and other devices.
This bridging of past and future technology began when Philippe Walter, a senior research scientist at the Research and Restoration Center of French Museums, collaborated with L’Oreal Research to study the history of cosmetic science. While researching the subject, Walter and his colleagues came across an old hair dye recipe.
"During the 2nd century A.D., Claudius Galen, the most famous doctor in the Roman Empire, precisely described the use of a mixture of lead oxide and slaked lime to dye hair black," Walter told Discovery News.
The researchers mixed these ingredients with water to form a paste. They then dyed blonde human hair with the paste mixture for three days. Each day they X-rayed the hair and magnified it using electron microscopy to see what was going on at the molecular level.
They discovered that the ingredients reacted with the protein building blocks in the hair to form sulfur, allowing the lead to penetrate hair shafts.
