NPR

In The Event Of A Nuclear Blast, Don't Condition Your Hair

That advice came in guidelines issued to residents of Guam on how to prepare for a missile threat on the island. The reason is conditioner can trap radioactive particles in strands of hair.
The Homeland Security website Ready.gov warns that following a nuclear blast, you should wash your hair with shampoo but not use conditioner, because conditioner can bind radioactive material to your hair. / Smith Collection / Getty Images

If, for some reason, you find yourself in a situation where you need to wash radioactive material from your body, don't reach for the bottle of hair conditioner. Conditioner can bind radioactive particles to your hair.

That warning was part of issued last Friday by Guam's Office of Civil Defense, following threats from North Korea that it was that would create an "enveloping fire" around the U.S. territory. On Tuesday, North Korean state media it would not

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