Dark Urine After Hair Coloring

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Abstract
To the Editor.— Recently, a 45-year-old woman complained of a dark brown discoloration of the urine following each of the seven times that she had had an application of black hair coloring at her local beauty salon. The discoloration was present in the first two voidings after the hair treatment, with a time span of approximately five hours. Subsequent urine specimens were grossly clear. There was no apparent systemic distress. One of the first reports of discolored urine after use of pigments was published in 18861; since then similar reports have appeared.2The discoloration was believed to be a result of the absorption of aniline, which is used as an intermediate in manufacture of the dyestuff. The aniline component caused a secondary methemoglobinemia and methemoglobinuria, often with clinical cyanosis. No cyanosis was evident in our patient. Both urine and blood were examined for methemoglobulins by spectrographic methods, since