Cosmetic Safety On The Line

A new book asserts that the rise in breast cancer is directly linked to chemicals in cosmetics and personal care items. But is it true? Here's what you need to know - Colette Bouchez

It seems to be a headline that just won't go away: The safety of cosmetics and personal care is challenged time and again.

Such is the case with a brand new book titled No Family History, (Rowman and Littlefield Publishers) by Sabrina McCormick, PhD, of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in Pennsylvania.

Indeed, according to McCormick, women are being set up for the health hit of a lifetime – and our weapon of mass destruction includes those cute little pink cosmetic bags which, the author says,are frequently filled to the brim with a toxic brew of chemicals that could be making us sick. The effects, say says are compounded daily by exposure to other environmental chemical assaults, from pesticides to household cleaners.

“In our race for a cure for breast cancer, we have ignored the overwhelming body of evidence that demonstrates a link between products from cosmetics to pesticides and breast cancer,” said McCormick.

To bolster her point of view McCormick points to statistics showing that in 1940, approximately one in 24 women who lived to be 80 were likely to get breast cancer – compared to one in eight, which was the figure in 2006. The rise, she says, shows a direct correlation to the rise of the use of chemicals in personal care and other products.

Moreover, it's a point of view shared by an increasing number of experts, including Stacy Malkin, co founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and author of the book Not Just a Pretty Face ( New Society Publishers).

"Cosmetics and personal care products are potentially major sources of chemical exposure – particularly if you look at the number of items women use and the sheer number of chemicals in them - 20 products, with over 200 chemicals is typical before a woman even walks out the door in the morning," says Malkin.

These chemicals, she says, documented by everyone from the World Health Organization to the Centers for Disease Control, are armed and dangerous, with a slew of health threats that range from cancer to infertility to birth defects and more.

The Beauty Industry Says Safety First

But the beauty industry not only disagrees, they say the alarming accusations are not news – and that these issues have been raised time and time again – with conclusive evidence of harm.

"Many of the issues that are coming up today are, in fact, a recycling of old issues that the FDA considered in their context and decided that no regulatory action was necessary on their part," says John Bailey, executive vice president of science at the Cosmetics Toiletries and Fragrance Association (CTFA), the leading beauty industry organization.

Bailey, the former director of the FDA's Office of Cosmetics and Colors, adds that not only are cosmetics and personal care products generally safe, they are, he says, " Safest of all the products consumers will use that are regulated by FDA including foods, drugs, dietary supplements and over the counter drugs and it is well documented in the number of consumer complaints that FDA gets compared to other areas."

And in truth, FDA stats do show that complaints about cosmetics and skin care products are exceedingly small when compared to those registered about over the counter drugs or even prescription medications.

While this may be true, some experts say it's not so much the immediate reactions of these products – the kind the FDA monitors – that gives rise to concerns, but rather the future and cumulative risks to our health that represent the biggest threat.

Younger Women At Greatest Risk

Indeed, studies have shown that some of the chemicals commonly used in cosmetic and skin care products are not only showing up in our blood , but also in our body tissue – in some instances in malignant breast tissue. And while there is still no clear cut link to show that these chemicals caused the malignancy to occur- or spread - some experts believe it's enough of a smoking gun to raise eyebrows – and concern.

"The evidence may not be as definitive as some would like, but there are some strong associations suggesting women routinely exposed to some of these ingredients may increase their risk of developing breast cancer later in life," says Vassar professor Dr. Janet Gray, who, together with experts from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute compiled a report on what we know thus far about the environmental links to breast cancer.

Moreover, Gray explains that it may be our daughters and grandaugthers that could be at greatest risk since, she says, breast cells that are developing ( which they do until about age 25 ) are far more susceptible to chemical influences that those which are already fully grown.

Cancer prevention expert Julia Smith, MD, agrees.

“What worries those of us involved with cancer prevention is that we don't know the cumulative effects of these chemicals, or the synergistic effects of one chemical with another, or what role the chemicals found in cosmetics will play when viewed in the broader scope of the overall chemical exposure we get from all facets of our life, " says Smith, the director of the Lynne Cohen Breast and Ovarian Cancer Prevention Program at the NYU Cancer Institute, New York City.

What Women Should Do Now

Certainly, it would be terrific if we had definitive answers about the impact of all the chemicals in our make up bag or even in our environment . But the truth is, we don't. In fact, while McCormick points out the rise in breast cancer rates correlates with the rise of chemicals in our daily life, the truth is, it also correlates with lots of other factors as well – including increasing rates of obesity, increased consumption of junk food, more alcohol and prescription drug use (some of which has already been linked to an increased risk of cancer), as well as more stress. And experts say any and all of these factors can have as many links to breast cancer as chemicals.

So what's a woman' to do? Smith seems to have the most common sense approach.

“Will you get cancer from using a lipstick ? Probably not. But you should think about all the products you use , and view them against the background of everything else in your life including your family history, your diet, and your general environment, then figure out which of these products are still essential to your life ,” Smith says.

If it isn't essential, says Smith, just do it without it – and then use the products you think you do need without excess fear or worry.

“ You do what you can, and hope it might make a positive difference in your life" , she says.

Click here to read Part II: Making Cosmetics Safer: What Every Woman Can Do

Visit RedDressDiary.com: Your Source For Beauty & Health For Women Over 40

Copyright by Colette Bouchez 2009 - All Rights Reserved. The text of this RedDressDiary article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. All formatting and style elements of this page are not available under this license, and Colette Bouchez retains all rights in those elements.

Study: Could Depression Be Sign of Hidden Cancer?

A new study suggests that in some people depression may be an early warning sign of cancer, appearing long before other obvious symptoms occur. Here's what you need to know. - Colette Bouchez

If a new study proves to be right, the first line of defense for patients suffering with depression may not be that all-too-common prescription for an antidepressant, but instead a medical workup designed to hunt down hidden tumors.

That's the interesting premise just published in a study on line in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Here, neuroscientists from the University of Chicago offer evidence that tumors may, in fact, be responsible for at least some of the biochemical changes that kick off bouts of depression – and that this may occur long before there is any obvious signs that the tumor itself even exists.

“By using this animal model of cancer we were able to isolate just the physiological effects of the tumors from the psychological effects that you get in human studies," said Leah Pyter , a behavioral neuroscientist at the University of Chicago, who led the study and was recently quoted in The Scientist.com.

It has long been known that cancer patients, along with others who suffer from chronic diseases, are more prone to depressive behavior. For the most part, however, doctors believed this was largely due to the emotional response to the diagnosis, as well as a biochemical stress reaction to the disease itself. Indeed, if you, or someone you love has ever undergone cancer treatment, then you already know how stressful both the diagnosis, and sometimes even the treatments can be.

Pyter and her group now believe that based on her research, the biochemical changes caused by the tumor itself could be strong enough to induce depression.

How The Study Was Conducted

To arrive at this conclusions Pyter and her team injected a chemical known to cause mammary tumors into a group of rats. They then monitored these rats, alongside a group of healthy rodents, as they participated in activities designed to reveal clinical signs of depression.

The result: The rats with the tumor cells demonstrated depressive symptoms in more than one situation – and they did so long before they had any telltale signs of cancer.

Researchers believe this is a strong indication that the depression was incited by biochemical changes stemming directly from the tumor cells. What is less clear, however, is what those changes entail.

One theory suggests the answer is rooted in cytokines - immune cells that, ironically, help fight disease. But cytokines have also been known to cause behavioral changes in response to certain bacterial infections, as well as brain trauma. What's more these changes appear to unfold in the same area of the brain linked to depression.

Pyter says all the rats in her study that were injected with the tumor cells showed an increase in cytokine activity, giving further rise to speculation therein lies the link to depression.

Experts say this idea may hold special significance for patients undergoing chemotherapy since many of the drugs used are, in fact, cytokine-based treatments.

Breast Cancer and Anti Depressant Medications

While clearly the new research has the potential to impact all cancer patients , perhaps it's greatest significance is for women at high risk for breast cancer. Why?

For more than two decades scientists have debated links between an increased incidence of breast cancer and the use of certain antidepressant medications, particularly those known as SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). While the findings are hardly conclusive in either direction, the new research could add another dimension to the debate - with two new questions coming to the forefront.

First: Could the studies which showed a link between the use of SSRIs and an increased risk of breast cancer really have provided us with the first glimpse at the possibility that some women diagnosed with depression may indeed be harboring undiagnosed tumor cells?

Second: If in fact, SSRIs really do increase the risk of tumor growth, should we be first ruling out cancer in all patients who are diagnosed with depression before doling out prescriptions for these, or any other antidepressant medications ?

At least for the moment, both questions remain unanswered.

What This Research Means To You

Certainly, not everyone who is diagnosed with depression develops cancer. Depression is a disease on it's own and experts agree that in most people it is not likely to ever be a sign of a hidden cancer.

That said, if you are diagnosed with depression, there may be a common sense lesson here worth noting: If your family or personal health history indicates you are at increased risk for cancer, particularly breast cancer, and that same history does not indicate an increased risk for depression, it might be wise to talk to your doctor about the need for certain advanced cancer screenings, and to have them either in conjunction with the use of antidepressant medications, or perhaps even before you start taking the medication.

The Really Good News: If , in fact, it turns out that depression is the very earliest marker for cancer in some people, then the possibility of catching this disease early enough to effect a complete cure is now a whole lot greater. And that is indeed, something to smile about.

You might also be interested in reading:
Menopause May Increase The Risk of Depression
Study:Can Attitude Impact Breast Cancer Risks?
Or visit RedDressDiary.com : The 24 Source for Health & Beauty for Women Over 40!

Copyright by Colette Bouchez 2009 - All Rights Reserved.
In addition to US Copyright, the text of this RedDressDiary article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. All formatting and style elements of this page are not available under this license, and Colette Bouchez retains all rights in those elements.