Modern hair dyes are cancer-linked, allergenic, and eco-toxic. Through its bespoke, bio-inspired pigment platform, Edulis introduces a new paradigm for non-toxic, environmentally benign high-performance hair color. At scale, Edulis technology holds the potential to eliminate dye-related cancer risk in hundreds of millions of users while reducing hazardous waste by thousands of kilotons.
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Nina Warner
Nina Warner is the co-founder and CEO of Edulis Labs, a company reinventing the century-old science of hair color with safe, high-performance products. Prior to founding Edulis, Warner completed a B.A. in chemistry at Pomona College and later, a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Cambridge.
Andre Cruz
Menandro (Andre) Cruz is a founding scientist at Edulis Labs, where he develops safer, more sustainable hair dye technologies. Cruz holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Cambridge, where he focused on supramolecular polymer assemblies, and completed postdoctoral research at the University of Ottawa developing polymer dielectrics for organic electronics. He earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Toronto. His work combines polymer science, nanomaterials, and green chemistry to develop innovative, high-impact solutions.
TECHNOLOGY
Critical Need
An estimated 40-75 percent of adult women and 10-20 percent of men in developed countries use hair dye products, representing hundreds of millions of individuals globally. Despite this, both cellular and epidemiological data show that modern hair dyes contain high concentrations of sensitizing, allergenic, and cancer-linked compounds, accompanied by rapid dermal absorption kinetics and high environmental toxicity. Replacing ubiquitous permanent color chemistry with safer, less environmentally destructive technology offers an enormous, often underestimated opportunity to positively impact public and environmental health at global scale.
Technology Vision
Since it was invented in 1907, hair dye has depended upon “coal tar” chemistry, in which small, toxic color precursors diffuse into the hair fiber, aided by environmentally destructive hair swelling agents like ammonia. In contrast, the Edulis process leverages biomimetic pigments with remarkably versatile adhesion inspired by and named after substrate-anchoring proteins in marine mussels (M. Edulis) to coat and color the hair simultaneously. In effect, Edulis’ approach eliminates the need to swell the hair through the use of harsh chemicals and enables the use of non-penetrating, bio-derived precursors with reduced bioavailability and toxicity.
Potential for Impact
By displacing coal tar hair dyes, Edulis’ technology holds the potential to reduce cancer risk for hundreds of millions of users globally, prevent thousands of kilotons of hazardous waste from being released into our water systems annually, and eliminate the occupational hazards related to hair dye exposure experienced by over five million stylists globally.
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Edulis Labs