Blush on your cheeks and a coal liner to enhance your eyes - seems like you have a deep passion for make-up. You may think there's nothing wrong with adding a few strokes of mascara to your lashes, but research recently revealed that makeup not only makes you look pretty, but can increase your risk for breast cancer.
Recently, bacon and sausages lovers were dismayed when the World Health Organization announced that these all-time favourites are highly dangerous to our health as they cause bowel cancer.
Now, many women will definitely be appalled to know that makeup (yes, i.e. mascara, foundation, etc.) and personal hygiene products such as shampoo, sunscreens and body wash are found to be potential carcinogens. These beauty products contain parabens-chemicals that are considered estrogenic because they trigger the same estrogen receptor as the natural hormone estradiol.
Previous studies have associated considerable exposure to estradiol and such estrogens with an increased possibility of breast cancer and reproductive problems. However, some scientists do not pay much vigilance towards these chemicals because they are considered weak in effect and do not cause much harm.
On the other hand, lead investigator Dale Leitman, a gynaecologist and molecular biologist from University California, Berkeley, suggests not underestimating parabens because their effect might be worse when combined with other agents that regulate cell growth.
Previously done chemical safety tests have measured the effects of parabens on human cells yet in isolation. Thus it was not taken into account how parabens could interact with other types of signalling molecules in the cells to amplify cancer risk.
In the freshly published study in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, the researchers mixed parabens with one additional compound called heregulin, which has also been linked to breast cancer cell growth. The researchers observed how the cells grew when exposed to both parabens and heregulin, and then compared it with how the cells grew when exposed only to parabens.
Results showed that the paraben were 100 times stronger in triggering the growth of cancer cells when added with heregulin. With this result, Dr. Chiangang Jeng (another expert not from the research team) of University of Tennessee Knoxville, concluded that parabens may have an effect in an intact biological system that is exposed to other chemicals that stimulate cell proliferation.
Indeed, the study raises apprehension and suggests that usage of parabens in cosmetic products should be re-evaluated.