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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Will hair dye get into my breastmilk?

61 replies

frenchleave · 17/04/2007 09:32

I really need to have my hair highlighted again, but I'm still feeding my 9-month-old three or four times a day and don't want to poison him with chemicals. Does anyone know if it's ok to do it or should I wait?

OP posts:
tiktok · 17/04/2007 09:46

french - no way it could get into your milk. It can't get into your bloodstream (unless you have deep open cuts on your scalp!) so it can't reach the milk

yellowrose · 17/04/2007 10:29

i disgaree, i am afraid, there is evidence of hairdressers having a higher risk of certain cancers linked to chemicals in hair dyes which they obviously use for their jobs, and i am not talking of skin cancers, but cancers effecting internal organs !

i am not scaremongering, it is just fact that the chemicals in hair dyes can get into your system. i am quite passionate about organic products incl. make up, etc. so have done my research on this.

there are several very good italian/spanish/french organic hair dyes that do not have the parabens or other chemicals in most commercial hairdyes, google and you will find them, all good health/organic stores sell them these days, i buy them to highlight, have used them twice now

just a warning though, they don't last as long nor do you get the range of colours you do with normal hair dyes, but at least you can be happy they are safer for you and baby !

yellowrose · 17/04/2007 10:32

this

not conclusive, but i find it scarey enough !

tiktok · 17/04/2007 10:37

OK - you don't have to agree with me

But you do have to show evidence when you suggest someone avoids something as perfectly normal and everyday as hair dye.

Dr Hale (world's leading authority on substances in mother's milk) has no concerns :

as he says here

RanToTheHills · 17/04/2007 10:40

well,I've tried to avoid it. There have been scares about hair-dye and don't want to take the risk. Why don't you go for more naturally based highlights as used in places like Aveda salons or use henna?

tiktok · 17/04/2007 10:41

X posted, yellow....I have now gone to the link you provide and don't find it scary at all, and particularly unscary when compared to what the OP is asking...but that's just me, perhaps

yellowrose · 17/04/2007 10:41

this

much more detailed

sorry, probably far more detailed than you really wanted to get

tiktok · 17/04/2007 10:41

But how is it going to get into the milk????

yellowrose · 17/04/2007 10:47

that's fine tiktok , you said" It can't get into your bloodstream" - but surely if hairdressers have 3 times or more the risk of cancers associated with chemicals in hair dyes, including bladder cancer, that suggests it CAN get into your blood stream ? of course french did not say she is a hairdresser she is a user which puts her at lower risk

i am not suggesting french should not use them (i don't think i tried to pressure her into anything in my post ?), her choice, not mine, i just wanted her to know that there ARE risks, even though not fully conclusive research on it at the moment

tiktok · 17/04/2007 10:55

It can get into the bloodstream if you have open cuts on your scalp. If someone is having highlights, then the dye will not even touch the scalp. According to Dr Hale, subcutaneous absorption is minimal to nil, so it's just not gonna get in

None of the research in either of the links scares me at all - it's really very poor quality, contradictory stuff with no lifestyle controls at all, as far as I can see. In any case, it is talking about the cumulative effect of working with dyes and chemicals every day over a working lifetime, and it's talking about the effect on the hairdresser, not on breastmilk.

SweetyDarling · 17/04/2007 10:56

Hairdressers are around dye all day every day, so the risk to them is totally different! They could get it on their hands then in their mouths etc etc.
Also, who says "natural" products are safer? Lots of plants are poinsonous, lots of poisons are "organic"! Would you rub mercury on yourself because it's a natural product?
Anyway, the scares re hair dye have been discredited, so highlight away!

tiktok · 17/04/2007 10:56

yellow, I did not say you were pressurising - you offered the links and your opinion and your suggestions, which is fair enough

yellowrose · 17/04/2007 10:58

tiktok - but as you and i both know, milk has living cells, many of them white blood cells

you said "it can't get into your bloodstream", i very much disgaree with that

like any chemical used on the skin, it CAN get into your bloodstream as much as a deodrant, make up, household bleach, anything at all can get in your bloodstream

the scalp in fact has a very rich supply of blood as one of the articles i posted indicates

i have bf for nearly 3 years french, i use chemicals around the house, also use non-organic make up, etc. although am gradually going organic in most things, not suggesting YOU do, but i can't see why mums who bf should not be aware of chemicals that CAN get into your blood stream and possibly into your milk

as we all know the benefits of bf FAR OUTWEIGH the risk of chemicals that can get into your bloodsream or into your milk

RanToTheHills · 17/04/2007 11:00

I try to avoid unnecessary chemicals as far as possible for exactly this reason. Hard though!

tiktok · 17/04/2007 11:01

Take it up with Dr Hale, then, yellow....I am only quoting him when he says subcutaneous absorption of hair dye is 'minimal to nil'. The skin is a very efficient organ at preventing 'stuff' getting into the bloodstream - and a good thing, too

RanToTheHills · 17/04/2007 11:03

That's a matter of opinion, tkiktok. There's lots of "stuff" around in 21st century life for our skin to contend with, far more chemicals than is desirable. there's a useful link on the Women's Environmental Network on avoiding chemicals in the home/cosmetics etc.

yellowrose · 17/04/2007 11:08

tiktok, with due respect, i found your first post very poor quality as it was so categorical in saying that it can't get into the blood stream full stop. that is scientifically inaccurate.

why is what i posted contradictory, they both reach the SAME conclusion; they are well researched and written and backed by research undertaken at universities not in primary schools

i agree that highlighting is less risky than full head dying, of course, but it is NOT true that highlighting never touches the scalp, depens on WHO is doing it !

i don't have time to argue with you on it, suffice it to say that i am convinced by research that says it CAN get into the bloodstream which you were so categorical in suggesting was otherwise !

if it NEVER got into the bloodstream than one would not see the increased risk in hairdressers and those who use dark dyes every few weeks

peachygirl · 17/04/2007 11:10

I was going to post a thread on this. I usually use home kit and have seen one which is supposed to be natural, do you know if any of these are any good?
Tik Tok, I trust your adviceon this that It' is unlikely to get into it

tiktok · 17/04/2007 11:10

What's a matter of opinion? That the skin is not a good organ at preventing stuff getting into the blood???

I made no comment at all about deoderants, modern day chemicals and the amount of them or their effect.

tiktok · 17/04/2007 11:12

I'm bowing out. I based my 'categorical' assertion on good evidence. As I said, take it up with Thomas Hale.

RanToTheHills · 17/04/2007 11:13

tiktok - of course it's a matter of opinion! Tbh, your arrogance astounds me at times - you challenge others while making sweeping comments yourself!

I understand that you have helped many on here with bfing, that's great, but this does not mean you are an expert on everything! Or does it?
No offence meant but I had to say something!

tiktok · 17/04/2007 11:16

Yellow - hairdressers get cuts on their skin, they can get the dye in their mouth and in their nose. Over a working life, this might well happen several times, even weekly. I really don't have the background to assess the research showing the risks, only to note that it is contradictory, and makes no mention of whether wearing gloves (to protect cuts) or masks (to prevent ingestion) would make a difference.

I am positive though that Dr Hale knows his stuff inside out and would not say absoroption is 'minimal to nil' and of therefore no risk to breastfeeding if he was not on very solid ground.

tiktok · 17/04/2007 11:18

What sweeping comment??? That highlights will not get into the bloodstream? A comment based on what the world's formemost authority on these issues says?

I'm not an expert on anything, let alone everything, but why is it a matter of opinon that the skin is an organ that protects us from stuff getting into our bloodstream?

Am I missing something here???

Piffle · 17/04/2007 11:19

on balance once every 6-8 wks should be fine fgs...

Piffle · 17/04/2007 11:19

highlights too are considered safer than full head dye as they are laid on foil and rarely touch the scalp - even considered safe in pregnancy.