Exposure to chemicals on a daily basis is inevitable. Many of these chemicals can adversely affect hormone function. Disrupting normal hormone function has been tied to breast cancer and cardiovascular disease. Thus, knowledge on chemicals that influence our hormone levels is crucial for public health especially for women because most exposure to toxic chemicals occurs from beauty and personal care products.
A recent study published in Environment International by George Mason University Assistant Professor of Global and Community Health --Dr. Anna Pollack and colleagues, have found a relationship between chemicals that are widely present in cosmetic and personal care products and changes in reproductive hormones.
Collecting a total of 509 urine samples retrieved from 143 healthy women aged 18 to 44 years. Researchers went on a multi-chemical approach to measure environmental chemicals that are present in personal care products, such as antimicrobial preservatives, commonly known as Parabens, and benzophenones, which are ultraviolet filters. "This study is the first to examine mixtures of chemicals that are widely used in personal care products in relation to hormones in healthy, reproductive-age women, using multiple measures of exposure across the menstrual cycle, which improved upon research that relied on one or two measures of chemicals," Pollack noted.
The need for a multi-chemical approach is to most closely reflect real world environmental exposures and to show that even low-level exposure to mixtures of chemicals can hold an adverse effect on reproductive hormone levels. "What we should take away from this study is that we may need to be careful about the chemicals in the beauty and personal care products we use," explains Pollack. "We have early indicators that chemicals such as parabens may increase estrogen levels. If this finding is confirmed by additional research, it could have implications for estrogen dependent diseases such as breast cancer."
To Learn More About Toxic Chemicals Present in Cosmetics, Watch The Video Below:
