Four commercial oxidative-type hair dye formulations, A, B, C, and D, were treated with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to simulate normal conditions of use, and the oxidized hair dyes were tested for their mutagenicity in Salmonella typhimurium TA98 in the presence of a mammalian metabolic activation system (S9 mix). Most of them did not show obvious mutagenicity in the range of 1-25 microliters/plate and all exhibited bactericidal activity at 10 microliters/plate. In order to evaluate the mutagenicity of hair dyes both before and after H2O2 oxidation, rayon linked to a copper-phthalocyanine derivative (blue rayon) was used as an adsorbent for the elimination of interfering bactericidal compounds. Adsorbed compounds on blue rayon were eluted with ammoniacal methanol and eluents were subjected to the Ames test. The mutagenicity of the blue-rayon extracts in TA98 with S9 mix was increased by H2O2 oxidation. The blue-rayon extracts obtained from oxidized A and B were potent mutagens and reverted 334 and 999 colonies/10 microliters of original substance, respectively. In addition, 88 and 249 ng of 2,7-diaminophenazine, which was extremely mutagenic in TA98 with S9 mix, were detected in the extracts of 40 ml of the hair dye formulations A and B, respectively. The mutagenicity in oxidized hair dye formulations was successfully detected by use of blue-rayon extraction. 2,7-Diaminophenazine was only formed in the hair dye formulations containing m-phenylenediamine by H2O2 oxidation. Therefore, attention needs to be paid to the use of m-phenylenediamine as a hair dye component, not only for its own toxicity but also for that of its oxidation products.