Beauty At The Risk Of Breast Cancer

By Suparna Chakaraborthy

Friday, March 18, 2011, 8:08

The use of some cosmetics like lotion, sunscreen, toners, shampoo etc, have become a part of our life and we use it regularly without realizing that these beauty products can be the cause of cancer. Most of the cosmetics include a harmful chemical called Parabens. Parabens can cause Breast Cancer along with several other minor skin problems like irritation, rashes etc. This speculation has now been proved by Dr. Philippa Darbre.

This chemical is the cheapest form of preservative which is used to increase the life of beauty products. It was introduced after 1950 after several bottle of lotion went waste due to getting spoil soon. The government then after gave the right to use preservatives and this chemical being the cheapest option became the most popular. Without this chemical, a product can never have the validity of more than 6 months.

According to a research by Dr. Philippa Darbre, preservatives in beauty products cause Breast Cancer by getting absorbed in human skin tissues. It then mimic the action of female hormone called Oestrogen. Oestrogen then after can speed the growth of human breast cells, which develops to be cancer. The relation between parabens and breast cancer have also been proved by studying the cancer tissues. It was noticed that out of twenty cancer cells, 18 cells contained this chemicals. The research also proved that this chemical also has a substance called formaldehyde, a substance that causes cancer. Formaldehyde is also the same chemical which is used to preserve dead bodies.

With the rise of the debate of whether Parabens cause Breast Cancer, no beauty product brand claim to have the chemical in their product. In the product description different names for Paraben are used. Some of the names are benzylparaben, isbutylparaben, and bonzonic acid.

So, check for these names when next time you buy a beauty product, to prevent yourself from the risk of breast cancer due to Parabens. The excessive use of cosmetics, doctors claim, is one of the biggest reason of increasing number of Cancer cases.