When you're vacationing with the kids this summer, you may come across tents & booths at resorts or tourist areas offering mehndi, or henna temporary "tattoos." Sounds like fun, right? The kids get a harmless temporary tattoo and some cute photos and memories. Yes, if the henna artist is using pure henna. If, however, the henna artist has added a chemical called PPD (para-phenylenediamine) to the paste they're using, your children could bring home much more than memories, including itching, painful blisters, permanent scarring, and permanent chemical sensitivities.

Natural henna is a powder from dried, ground leaves of the plant Lawsonia inermis, and when made into a paste and applied to the skin, leaves a reddish-brown stain. There is no such thing as "black henna." Allergic reactions to the natural henna plant or pure essential oils added to the paste are possible, but very rare.

PPD is found in black hair dye, and some henna artists have taken to adding it to regular henna or using it alone to create dark black temporary tattoos that look more like real ink tattoos than the lighter orange or brown stains left by true henna. PPD-based hair dye contains a warning that it shouldn't touch the scalp. The chemical PPD is a strong sensitizer, carcinogen, and accidental ingestion (which is common in young children who might ingest the paste before it's taken off) can cause death. It is associated with liver failure, asthma, and cancer.

If your children become sensitized to PPD, they run the risk of having future reactions to chemical hair dye, PABA-based sunblock, sulfa antibiotics, many cosmetics, anesthesia ending in -caine, fabric and other dyes...the list goes on and on.