Abstract
BackgroundConcerns have been raised that extensive use of personal care products that contain endocrine disrupting compounds increase the risk of hormone sensitive cancers.ObjectiveTo assess the effect of skincare product use on the risk of pre- and postmenopausal breast cancer, estrogen receptor positive (ER+) and negative (ER-) breast cancer and cancer of the endometrium.MethodsWe used data from 106,978 participants in the population-based Norwegian Women and Cancer cohort. Participants were categorized into non-, light, moderate, frequent and heavy users of skincare products based on self-reported use of hand and facial cream and body lotion. Cancer incidence information from the Cancer Registry of Norway was linked to individual data through the unique identity number of Norwegian citizens. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression was used to assess the effect of skincare product use on the risk of cancer of the breast and endometrium. We used multiple imputation by chained equations to evaluate the effect of missing data on observed associations.ResultsWe found no associations between use of skincare products and incidence of premenopausal breast cancer (frequent/heavy versus non−/light use: hazard ratio [HR] =1.10, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.92–1.32), postmenopausal breast cancer (heavy versus light use: HR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.65–1.18, frequent versus light use: HR = 0.97, 95% CI: 0.88, 1.07) or endometrial cancer (frequent/heavy versus non−/light use: HR = 0.97, 95% CI: 0.79–1.20). Use of skincare products did not increase the risk of ER+ or ER- breast cancer and there was no difference in effect across ER status (0.58 ≤ pheterogeneity ≤ 0.99). The magnitude and direction of the effect estimates based on complete case analyses and multiple imputation were similar.ConclusionHeavy use of skincare products, i.e. creaming the body up to two times per day during mid-life, did not increase the risk of cancer of the breast or endometrium.
Highlights
Concerns have been raised that extensive use of personal care products that contain endocrine disrupting compounds increase the risk of hormone sensitive cancers
Given the widespread use of skincare products and the potential estrogenic effects of product constituents, there is a clear lack of epidemiological studies addressing the effect of skincare product use on hormone sensitive cancers. In this population-based study, we aimed to investigate the effect of skincare product use on the risk of pre- and postmenopausal breast cancer, estrogen receptor positive (ER+) and negative (ER-) breast cancer and cancer of the endometrium
Statistical analysis We investigated the associations between skincare product use and the risk of breast and endometrial cancer using Cox proportional hazard regression with age as the time scale
Summary
Concerns have been raised that extensive use of personal care products that contain endocrine disrupting compounds increase the risk of hormone sensitive cancers. Use of skincare products such as body lotion, facial cream and hand cream is common among Norwegian women [1]. Several components of these personal care products (PCPs) are classified as known or suspected endocrine disruptors (EDs), i.e., compounds that are able to interfere with the endocrine function in humans and. They are included in other PCPs to increase shelf-life [2], and have been detected in human urine [11, 12], breastmilk [13] and breast tissue [14]. Prenatal triclosan concentrations was recently reported associated with earlier menarche in American girls, whereas there was no effect of prenatal or peripubertal concentrations of the UV filter Benzophenone-3 [16]
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