Is it safe to use permanent hair color on my hair during pregnancy?

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 coloring 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 coloring 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.

Some experts recommend vegetable dyes as a good alternative to synthetic chemical agents during pregnancy. Many of these dyes also contain some of the same synthetic chemical compounds that the major cosmetic companies put in their permanent and semi-permanent dyes. Pure henna, which comes in a number of colors, is the exception. Henna is a semi-permanent vegetable dye considered to be very safe, though not everyone loves the hues it may impart!

It's important for women to feel good about themselves during pregnancy. Whether coloring your hair will make you feel good or cause you to worry needlessly for nine months is something to think about. If you do color your own hair while expecting, wear gloves and work in a well-ventilated space to minimize your exposure to the harsh chemicals used in the coloring process.