A scientific study appears to have revealed the curious reasons why children who swim in Lake Van, Turkey’s largest lake in eastern Anatolia, acquire blonde hair for several months, which then disappears naturally.
The study was led by Professor Hatice Uce Özkol of the Department of Dermatology at Yüzüncü Yıl University (YYÜ) in Van, who explained in media reports that the children’s hair turns blonde because of the salinity of Van’s water and the action of the sun’s rays during the summer. The effect, which affects both the hair on the head and eyebrows, disappears with the arrival of the colder months.
“Those who have oily skin and bathe in the lake are more affected by this. The saline water of the lake removes the dead layers of the skin. This has a lightening effect, which occurs because of the sun and also because the altitude here is high,” explained the expert, who analysed the effect on children in Yaylıyaka, a village on the north-eastern shore of Lake Van. Interestingly, the “lightening” effect does not only affect children with brown hair: “The hair of those with red hair can also become even redder,” she said. “When the effect wears off in winter, the hair returns to its normal state,” she added.
The fact is that blonde hair is a highly valued aesthetic rarity in the eastern regions of Turkey, so many children who want to lighten their hair and look more “blonde” come to bathe in the lake. “When the summer holidays start, we start going to Lake Van. We swim in the lake every day. It makes our hair blonde. It’s something we like,” said Semih, an 11-year-old student.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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