by Rachel VanKeulen-Miller
Do you use deodorant? While I hope that the answer is yes, many studies have found that chemicals in our personal care products like shampoos, conditioners, soaps, make up, sunscreen, and deodorant can actually affect our health!
What are Xenoestrogens?
Xenoestrogens, such as parabens and phthalates, are chemicals that are present in many personal care products because they help dissolve components of the product or they help the products get absorbed into the skin. Due to their ability to aid in skin absorption (a good thing), they can easily enter our blood streams, and can be detected in our plasma, urine, and even breast milk and amniotic fluid (a not-so-good thing). Our bodies have a delicate balance of hormones, which act as chemical messengers within the body. This hormone-messaging system is called the endocrine system.
Estrogen is one of the hormones that the endocrine system uses to send signals. While both men and women produce estrogen, it fluctuates with the menstrual cycle in women. We typically think of estrogen as a reproductive hormone, but it also is important in bone growth, cholesterol, blood sugar levels, and brain functionality.
The trouble is, xenoestrogens happen to look a lot like estrogen. For this reason, they can accidentally trick the body into thinking there is more estrogen signal than there really is. This causes the cells to make proteins or perform tasks that they are supposed to when they see estrogen molecules, which can disrupt other functions of the body (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Estrogens and xenoestrogens both activate estrogen receptors. Created by author with BioRender.
Why Should I Care?
In one study by William Goodson’s lab at California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, researchers selected women who regularly used personal care products with xenoestrogens and asked some of them to change out all of their personal care products for ones that did not have any of these chemicals. The others just kept using their normal personal care products. They took small samples of breast tissue from each woman at the beginning of the study and again after 28 days to measure these samples for expression of breast cancer associated genes. This was a way to quantify how “close” the breast tissues were to eventually developing cancer.
They found something very interesting – after only 28 days, the women who switched to more “clean beauty” personal care products (that did not have any xenoestrogens) had a significant reduction of the expression of the genes that were associated with breast cancer!
Should I Panic?
No. While it is important to be conscious of what we are putting onto and into our bodies, it can be really difficult to know which things to look out for. Guided by scientific research that informs us of the real implications of using specific products, we can take steps towards more healthy living by avoiding personal care products containing chemicals that might be harmful to our health. While we can never completely get rid of all harmful chemicals we are exposed to, next time you are purchasing shampoo, deodorant, or sunscreen, check the ingredient list! This is an easy step you can take towards better understanding what you are consuming. Look out for xenoestrogens such as parabens and phthalates to make the best decisions for your health.
