Human Health Implications of Personal Care Products: Breast Cancer and Other Breast-Related Diseases

Abstract

This article discusses recent research showing that component chemicals of personal care products (PCPs) can mimic or interfere with estrogen action, can enter the human body from dermal application, and can be detected in the human breast. Lifetime exposure to estrogen is an established risk factor in the development of breast cancer and exposure to estrogenic chemicals of PCPs may contribute to the estrogenic burden of the breast. The potential link between specifically underarm cosmetics and breast cancer is suggested from the clinical observations that over half of all breast cancers now originate in the upper outer quadrant of the breast, the region to which these cosmetics are targeted. Regular application of multiple products which are left on the skin of the breast allows for continuous exposure to a range of estrogenic compounds in PCPs including parabens, musk fragrances, benzyl salicylate, benzyl benzoate, butylphenylmethylpropional, UV filters, phthalates, cyclosiloxanes, alkylphenol, triclosan, and the inorganic aluminum-based antiperspirant salts. The Mortician's mystery published in 1988 is a reminder that long-term dermal exposure of hands to embalming cream containing estrogenic components can result in whole body endocrine disruption, and current evidence that estrogenic chemicals can have additive effects on breast cells suggests that a significant estrogenic stimulus to the breast could result from long-term low-dose exposure to multiple PCPs.