Whatever, just don’t sit next to us.
The Sun (UK) reports,
Most women have been using make-up and deodorant for years without a second thought. But new research might make you think twice.
Parabens, a chemical used in cosmetics, toiletries and some food products to prolong shelf-life, has been found in tumours taken from breast cancer patients.
Dr Philippa Darbre, reader in oncology at the University of Reading, has spent years studying parabens and how they get into the body. She says: “Parabens can mimic the action of oestrogen and there is a link between oestrogen and breast cancer”…
Here’s why this claim is nonsense. From CosmeticsInfo.org:
Some scientific studies have suggested that butyl and possibly propylparaben can mimic the effect of the endocrine hormone estrogen when tested at very high concentrations in cell cultures and female mice. This effect is sometimes referred to as endocrine disruption. Some recent studies have claimed that there is a link between Paraben exposure, particularly in underarm cosmetics, and breast cancer caused by endocrine disruption. These studies have been largely discredited by the scientific community, particularly by those who study the toxic effects of chemicals on the body. In fact, scientists who study the effects of products on the population (epidemiologists) have found no direct link between underarm products and breast cancer (1).
Many materials found in plants used as food also have an estrogenic effect. These naturally occurring materials are called phytoestrogens and are present in soy and other fruits and vegetables. Some of these phytoestrogens, when tested in the same way as Parabens, give similar estrogen-like results. However, Parabens have been shown to be 10,000 times weaker than the most potent phytoestrogens and 100,000 times less potent than estradiol, the estrogen produced naturally by the body. Most scientists agree that there is no endocrine- disrupting effect from the use of Parabens in cosmetic and personal care products because their action, if any, is so weak.
For those who always prefer natural and/or organic sourced products, I suggest my own favorite recipe. I will make you a locally gathered wild salad made from fresh poison ivy leaves and poison oak clusters seasoned with a condensed hemlock sap dressing. It tastes great and you will remember the dish for a long time due to the freshness and that wonderful itchy feeling.
Come on just because something is “natural” in of itself does not make it safer. If you were to read the ingredients list for an orange listing the various chemicals, you would never want to get near one again.
Breast cancer is a very emotive issue. As a woman I need to be on the lookout for any trouble. I have known a lot of women who have had cancer of the breast. My MIL died as a result of breast cancer because it had got to her glands. At the present time I know a woman who was recently diagnosed and the cancer has gotten to her glands. In both of these cases there are multiple pregnancies. In my MIL’s case there were several miscarriages. I do not know the medical history of the other woman, but she actually thinks that dairy products are to blame for her cancer… well, I am not sure about the logic of her statement. On the other hand, I know many breast cancer survivors and one of them had a return of the cancer which meant losing her other breast.
Some research in the past has pointed to the possibility of miscarriage being like a precursor to problems in the future. I still think that the link to miscarriage (procured or natural) is one of many possible links as to why some women get breast cancer. It has to do with the hormones.
Most breast cancers hit when a woman is reaching menopause, but there are exceptions and some of them are high profile exceptions. The question should be why is reaching menopause so vulnerable for women ending up with breast cancer? Perhaps it has something to do with the disruption of hormones at point in time in a woman’s life. Perhaps this is where the disruption to hormones which occurs when there is a miscarriage might have some relevance. I am not a medical researcher and I do not know that answer.
It has been common practice for doctors to prescribe extra estrogen to women who have undergone menopause, for some very obvious reasons. One form of estrogen is via a pessary and its purpose is again quite obvious. However, many women undergo taking replacement hormone therapy. Personally, I do not believe in the use of hormone replacement therapy – but that is purely a personal choice. The thing is that there has also been an upsurge in the reported cases of breast cancer since HRT became common practice. There are some studies that found a link. These were quickly buried. Why?
Now we have this doctor rabbiting on about parabens and what is found in underarm deodorant. Really? As a non-professional, I think that the link remains with the use of artificial hormones, and that includes the use of the pill. Anything that disrupts the natural process, such as the use of artificial hormones to disrupt the menstrual cycle should be considered as one of the possibilities for continuing surges in the rate of the number of women being diagnosed with breast cancer. Anything else is just trying to find another cause without looking at the obvious.
Good grief! There has never been evidence of Agent Orange hurting anybody. Vietnam Vets age and dye just as every cohort does.
a lifetimes absorbtion of not just one but many personal care direct to skin, amplified BY either food ie soy etc and then natural, hormones etcand maybe meds?
GRAS doesnt require testing its “grandfathering” not smart when Nano for eg IS absorbable through skin due to its tiny size.
when they do their testing its very unlike what normality actually is..
(like toothpaste says…use a PEA shaped amount-yet adverts etc show a huge whole brushload)
theres safer products with some vestiges of rules and regs followed, and then theres the cheap nasties, they probably both work, its just which one is safer in the long haul.
personally I would go with the bicarb for BO..
reading the labels on every product a woman uses from the shower to the mirror alone in One day..its pretty staggering how many chem, none of which are tested for inter reactions/synergistioc affects either..
a yearly volume of a kilo or more isnt a tiny exposure X a lifetime.
Thanks Frank, I would never have guessed that personal deodorant and agent orange had so many similarities or that the Vietnam War could be used as proof for a UK oncology article decades later.
I would still much rather a chemical that was “naturally” made and not synthetic.
The natuiral stuff still has chemicals in it, idiot. Did you read the articele Frank?
Many materials found in plants used as food also have an estrogenic effect. These naturally occurring materials are called phytoestrogens and are present in soy and other fruits and vegetables. Some of these phytoestrogens, when tested in the same way as Parabens, give similar estrogen-like results. However, Parabens have been shown to be 10,000 times weaker than the most potent phytoestrogens and 100,000 times less potent than estradiol, the estrogen produced naturally by the body.
everything is bad for you. but but there may be some truth in this report..
chemicals that absorb through the skin, may have a big effect.
remember when the government told us agent orange was ok.. now thousands of vietnam vets are dying and
died has a result of a lie..now i have to get checked every year.. stay with natural stuff has much has
possible.. so much crap out there and i notice women use tons of this crap on their face..