Study confirms benefits of reducing the amount of chemicals you put
on your body
From UC
Berkeley.
A new study led by researchers at UC Berkeley and Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas demonstrates how even a short break from certain kinds of makeup, shampoos and lotions can lead to a significant drop in levels of hormone-disrupting chemicals in the body.
The shampoos, lotions and other personal care products you use can
affect the amount of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in one’s body, a new study
showed.
The results, published in the journal Environmental
Health Perspectives, came from a study of 100 Latina teenagers
participating in the Health and Environmental Research on Makeup of Salinas
Adolescents (HERMOSA)
study.
Researchers provided teen study participants with personal care
products labeled free of chemicals such as phthalates, parabens, triclosan and
oxybenzone.
Such chemicals are widely used in personal care products, including
cosmetics, fragrance, hair products, soaps and sunscreens, and have been shown
in animal studies to interfere with the body’s endocrine system.
“Because women are the primary consumers of many personal care
products, they may be disproportionately exposed to these chemicals,” said
study lead author Kim Harley, associate director of the UC Berkeley Center for
Environmental Research and Children’s Health.
“Teen girls may be at particular
risk since it’s a time of rapid reproductive development, and research has
suggested that they use more personal care products per day than the average
adult woman.”
Analysis of urine samples before and after a three-day trial in
which the participants used the lower- chemical products found significant
drops in levels of these chemicals in the body. Metabolites of diethyl
phthalate, commonly used in fragrances, decreased 27 percent by the end of the
trial period.
Methyl and propyl parabens, used as preservatives in cosmetics,
dropped 44 and 45 percent respectively. Both triclosan, found in antibacterial
soaps and some brands of toothpaste, and benzophenone-3 (BP-3), found in some
sunscreens under the name oxybenzone, fell 36 percent.
Surprisingly, there was a small increase in concentrations in two
less common parabens. Those levels were small and could have been caused by
accidental contamination or a substitution not listed on the labels, the study
authors said.
Kimberly Parra, study co-director, said it was important to
involve local youth in the design and implementation of the study.
“The results of the study are particularly interesting on a
scientific level, but the fact that high school students led the study set a
new path to engaging youth to learn about science and how it can be used to
improve the health of their communities,” she said.
“After learning of the
results, the youth took it upon themselves to educate friends and community
members, and presented their cause to legislatures in Sacramento.”
Read more at UC Berkeley.
