#4- Is Semi-Permanent Straightening more toxic than Permanent? Why do you wear a respirator?

I started wearing a respirator, long before I started doing SP-S, at the recommendation of my E.N.T.. I had irritation in my throat and sinuses from breathing in the ammonia gas that comes off of Permanent Straightening. The following describes the toxicity of ammonia gas:

"What is ammonia’s mechanism of action?
Ammonia interacts immediately upon contact with available moisture in the skin, eyes, oral
cavity, respiratory tract, and particularly mucous surfaces to form the very caustic ammonium
hydroxide. Ammonium hydroxide causes the necrosis of tissues through disruption of cell
membrane lipids (saponification) leading to cellular destruction. As cell proteins break down,
water is extracted, resulting in an inflammatory response that causes further damage.

What are the immediate health effects of ammonia exposure?
Inhalation: Ammonia is irritating and corrosive. Exposure to high concentrations of ammonia
in air causes immediate burning of the nose, throat and respiratory tract. This can cause
bronchiolar and alveolar edema, and airway destruction resulting in respiratory distress or
failure. Inhalation of lower concentrations can cause coughing, and nose and throat irritation.
Ammonia's odor provides adequate early warning of its presence, but ammonia also causes
olfactory fatigue or adaptation, reducing awareness of one's prolonged exposure at low
concentrations."

The doctor considered my irritation quite severe. At the time, I was doing @8-10 hours of permanent straightening(PS) per day, and breathing in ammonia gas the entire time. SO! In comparison to that, SP-S don't feel toxic at all. :) There is formaldehyde gas that comes off during the flat ironing part, but unless it blows directly into the face, it is not detectable. Whereas, the Ammonia gas that comes off during PS is very very noticeable and would affect everyone on our floor if we didn't ventilate. When SP-S is done without ventilation, the fumes don't make it into the hallway past the door.
The bottom line is that both are toxic to breath in. And, some people are going to be really sensitive to the fumes of both, and some people are not going to be sensitive to either. I happen to be a very sensitive person to fumes, so the only way I could continue to work with either method is with the use of a respirator. Many hairdressers quit the business because they can't tolerate the fumes or the handling of product. And, many clients avoid the straightening services because they don't want the exposure. Wearing a respirator solves that problem for both stylists and clients.
The unique thing about SP-S is that it's new and there are no long term affects known to hairdressers, yet. Also, the unfortunate thing is that some companies are marketing the product as "all natural", insinuating that it's non-toxic, which is totally deceptive. Therefore, hairdressers and clients incorrectly assume that a stylist wearing a respirator must be dealing with a "bad, toxic, under the table" version of solution. This couldn't be further from the truth. I wear a respirator because I'm dealing with gasses of known toxicity, and unknown long term affect, on a daily basis. It would be just plain stupid to put myself in an environment with ANY potential exposure on a daily basis, and not protect myself. I've done a couple SP-S treatments without the respirator, and it doesn't affect me negatively like the permanent, but it would be foolish to think that means it's not going to ever affect me. If I had to choose which process was the most toxic, I would pick the permanent straightening since I can feel the negative affects immediately. Also, this might be too much info, but if I do a permanent straightening without gloves and respirator, I can smell ammonia the next morning in my urine. Very much like the asparagus phenomena. That tells me that the ammonia is getting in my system somehow, going through it, and then coming out. That is scary. I have never noticed that with SP-S, but that certainly doesn't vouch for it's safety.
I wear a gas mask with an attached particle filter,  during SP-S because during the flat ironing, a smoke comes off that includes fine little particles of polymer amongst other things. This is very irritating to breath in. This particulate clogs up the fans, window screens, and the intake of the blowdryers. We don't want it clogging up our lungs.