A recent study has revealed that chemicals commonly used in cosmetics and other personal-care products can stimulate the growth of breast cancer cells.
Lead author of the study, Dr. Dale Leitman, an adjunct professor of nutritional sciences and toxicology at the University of California, Berkeley explained that Parabens are a type of chemical preservative, and are found in a wide array of consumer products, including shampoos, body lotions and sunscreens.
He said “Because they’re weak, they’re assumed to be safe compounds; the real problem when you do studies in the laboratory is that you study one compound at a time, but in the body, that’s not the case. What you’re seeing in the body is really a combination of the effects of many compounds.”
He recommended that more research should be conducted before parabens can be declared unsafe for use in cosmetics.