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pregnancy and hair dye


Sent to Health Experts September 11, 2005 2:57 p.m.

Is it safe to color your hair during pregnancy? And if so, how often? Thanks!
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September 11, 2005 3:02 p.m. (4 minutes and 46 seconds later)
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No one has enough information to promise with certainty that using chemical dyes during pregnancy is completely safe, so many pregnant women wait until after the first trimester. At the same time, no one has any human data to show these chemicals cause birth defects.

Over the years, people have conducted animal studies trying to shed light on this matter. Some, but not all, studies have shown a few of the chemical compounds in hair dyes to be teratogenic (causing birth defects). However, in many cases the animals were exposed to extremely high doses of these chemicals, doses in no way equivalent to the exposure of the woman who colours her hair every month or two.

Clearly, the chemicals in both permanent and semi-permanent hair dyes are not highly toxic. These chemicals have been around a long time, and no research shows they cause defects in newborns, so colouring your hair during pregnancy is probably safe. Plus, if you apply the dyes safely (using gloves in a well-ventilated room, and not leaving solutions on for excessive periods of time), you don't really absorb much of the chemicals into your system.

One alternative you might consider is highlighting, painting, or frosting your hair. You absorb hair colouring agents into your system through your skin (scalp), not through your hair shaft. So, any process — such as streaking — that puts less of the chemical in contact with your scalp reduces your exposure to the compounds in dyes.

http://www.babycenter.com/expert/pregnancy/pregnancybeauty/3273.html

Good luck, if you need anything else please feel free to ask

PictureLindie  -- Healthcare Expert -- 100% Positive Feedback on 4849 Health Accepts
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