Ammonium Hydroxide=Dangerous?

Yes, this chemical does have a very scary and dangerous looking name but... is it really that bad?


Figure 1
Japanese Hair Dye


1. What is it?

Ammonium Hydroxide is a chemical that is used in many different products and processes! (more about those later). 
It is made by dissolving ammonia gas in water (2). Ammonia itself is a naturally occurring chemical which is found both in nature, through the nitrogen cycle, and in our bodies, in urine. 


2. What is it used in?

Ammonium hydroxide is used in so many things that I don't even have room to list them all. 
A list of some things that ammonium hydroxide is Note. From Japanese Hair Dye [Photograph], by     used /as: hair dye (3), food preserver, pH adjuster,  
J. Gillespie, 2012, Flickr (https://openverse.org/       inks, fertilizers, production of plastic,
image/e485f0a7-c60d-404b-a958-85f4fc151962?     photography development, and many more (6)!
q=hair+dye&p=14).  CC BY-SA 2.0.                         Why is it used in most of these? Mainly because it is a                                                                                     base (pH higher then 7) and has basic properties. 

3. Is it dangerous?

Onto the real question. 
In most cases, no. Ammonium hydroxide being used in the products I listed above has no safety concerns because the amount and concentration of the chemical is deemed safe.
But... this chemical can be dangerous when inhaled, touched or digested in very high amounts or over long periods of time because it is corrosive and contains ammonia gas. Effects of ammonium hydroxide may be: irritation, burns and drying to skin, nausea, difficulty breathing, chest tightness, burns or blindness with contact to eye, abdominal pain, vomiting and a risk of death when ingested (2).

4. Conclusion

Overall, this post is not intended to scare you but just to spread information about different chemicals. The average person is not coming into contact with high and concentrated amounts of ammonium hydroxide that is harmful. 
Personally, I will continue to dye my hair because I know the concentration of the ammonium hydroxide in my hair dye is not high. I personally have not experienced irritation to my skin from hair dye in the 3 years I have been dying my hair, so I will continue to use it.

Leave any questions or thoughts below!


References

  1. Ammonia. (2008). In J. Daintith (Ed.), A dictionary of chemistry (6th ed.). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780199204632.001.0001

  2. Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety. (2009, October). Ammonium hydroxide. https://ccinfoweb2.ccohs.ca/cheminfo/records/434E.html#TOC11

  3. Cosmetics Info. (n.d.). Ammonium Hydroxide. https://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/ingredient/ammonium-hydroxide/ 

  4. Gillespie, J. (2012). Japanese Hair Dye [Photograph]. Flickr.  https://openverse.org/image/e485f0a7-c60d-404b-a958-85f4fc151962?q=hair+dye&p=14 

  5. Johnson, B. (2012). Advances in organic chemistry, catalysis, and the chemical industry. In Making ammonia (1st ed., pp. 29-42). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85532-1_3 

  6. National Center for Biotechnology Information. (2025). Ammonium Hydroxide. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Ammonium-Hydroxide

  7. Schwarcz, J. (2017, March 20). Can consuming food treated with ammonia hydroxide cause health problems? McGill Office for Science and Society. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/controversial-science-food-health-you-asked/you-asked-can-consuming-food-such-beef-treated-ammonia-hydroxide-potentially-cause-any-health 

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