Even at low levels, a class
of preservatives widely-used in consumer products like shampoos, cosmetics,
body lotions, and sunscreens can contribute to development of breast cancer
suggests new research.
The estrogen-mimicking
chemicals called parables also have implications for other diseases that are
influenced by estrogens, the study noted.
These chemicals are
considered estrogenic because they activate the same estrogen receptor as the
natural hormone estuarial.
Studies have linked exposure
to strudel and related estrogens with an increased risk of breast cancer, as
well as reproductive problems.
As a result, the use of
parabens in consumer products increasingly has become a public health concern.
“Although parabens are known
to mimic the growth effects of estrogens on breast cancer cells, some consider
their effect too weak to cause harm,” said lead investigator Dale Leitman, a
gynecologist and molecular biologist at University California Berkeley US
“But this might not be true
when parabens are combined with other agents that regulate cell growth,”
Littman noted.
However, existing chemical
safety tests, which measure the effects of chemicals on human cells, look only
at parabens in isolation and fail to take into account that parabens could
interact with other types of signaling molecules in the cells to increase
breast cancer risk.
To better reflect what goes
on in real life, the researchers looked at breast cancer cells expressing two
types of receptors: estrogen receptors and HER2, or human epidermal growth
factor receptor 2.
The study demonstrated that
parabens may be more potent at lower doses than previous studies have suggested
which may spur scientists and regulators to rethink the potential impacts of
parabens on the development of breast cancer.
The findings were published
online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
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