What About Hair Dyes?
In the 1970s, a number of chemicals in hair dyes, such as coal tar, were linked to cancer in animals and were banned from hair products. Multiple studies conducted since 1980, however, have found limited and conflicting evidence of a link between the personal use of hair dyes and cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Some studies have shown people using hair dyes have an elevated risk of cancer, but many others do not, the institute says. Meanwhile the Working Group of the International Agency for Research on Cancer has determined that hair dyes are “not classifiable” as cancer-causing to humans.
Some consumer groups still worry, however.
“While there is absence of evidence of harm [by hair dyes], there isn’t great data showing the safety of [using] these products either, especially when you are pregnant,” says Alexandra Gorman Scranton, director of science and research for Women’s Voices for the Earth, a Missoula, Mont.-based group that aims to eliminate toxic chemicals from the environment. “I also think there is great economic incentive by those who make hair dyes to make sure that the data don’t show it” to be harmful.
The Personal Care Products Council, a trade group in Washington, D.C., that represents 600 cosmetics and personal care product companies, not surprisingly disputes that. Last June, it noted that more than 50 studies, including those published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, showed no association between hair dyes and cancer. The council also says prominent pregnancy and women’s health organizations—including the March of Dimes and the Motherisk Program at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto—have said there’s no evidence of harm from using hair dyes during pregnancy. It further notes that hair dyes have been independently tested and found safe by scientists in the European Union and Japan, and by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review.
The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists also has weighed in, saying that using hair dyes during pregnancy is “believed to be safe” because little dye is absorbed through the skin.
“It’s tough to try proving a negative,” says Linda Loretz, chief toxicologist at the Personal Care Products Council. “Studies involving hundreds of thousands of women simply don’t find harm.”—Bara Vaida