Silent Spring Institute Study
Finds Controversial Chemicals Marketed to Women in Personal Care Products Since
the 1950s
Business Wire 1nov00
Researchers at Silent Spring Institute have released the results of their latest study which reviewed 8,000 magazine advertisements featuring women's personal care products from 1950 through 1994 that might affect women's risk of breast cancer or other health problems. Researchers found that endocrine disruptors and other controversial compounds in many everyday personal care products have been marketed in popular women's magazines to both white and African-American women since the 1950s. A few of these chemicals have been taken off the market and some remain on the market today.
Since the demographic differences seen in disease rates may be related to differences in the use of consumer products advertised to women, researchers looked to identify differences in product advertising across age, ethnic and socioeconomic groups. In the 1940s, a woman's lifetime risk of breast cancer in the US was 1 in 22; now it is 1 in 8. African-American women have lower rates of diagnosis, but are more likely to die from breast cancer. Researchers specifically chose to compare advertisements in publications with different target audiences such as Mademoiselle, Ladies' Home Journal, Essence and Ebony.
According to Dr. Nancy Maxwell, the study's principal investigator, "At the heart of Silent Spring's inquiry is the fact that breast cancer risk is related to lifetime exposure to estrogen. Research over the past 10 years has revealed many compounds in everyday products can weakly mimic hormones, including estrogen, or block the action of natural hormones. These compounds are called endocrine disruptors because they alter the body's natural endocrine system. We were concerned about the demographic differences in how consumer products were marketed."
The study revealed that advertisements for some hair care products emphasized that they contain hormones or placenta. These product advertisements appeared more often in issues of Essence and Ebony than in Mademoiselle and Ladies' Home Journal. This finding is of particular interest in the context of recent research suggesting that use of hair products containing placenta or hormones might be linked to premature sexual development in African-American children.(1) A small number of skin products, mostly facial moisturizers and foundations, were advertised as containing hormones.
From 1970 to 1994, nearly 250 nail polish and nail strengthening products were advertised in the sampled issues of Mademoiselle--more than twice the number in Essence and more than three times the number in Ladies' Home Journal. The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently released results showing that phthalates found in nail care products are commonly detected in people's urine and the highest levels were found in women in their childbearing years. "While the recent research done by the CDC indicates that use of these products results in measurable exposures, we don't know yet whether exposure at these levels affects breast cancer or other health risks," said Dr. Maxwell.
The study also called attention to the prolonged advertising of two chemical ingredients that were later restricted because of their health effects. The antibacterial hexachlorophene was frequently advertised in deodorant products during the 1950s and 1960s and, to a lesser extent, in scalp treatments. Similarly, ammoniated mercury was regularly advertised as the active ingredient in skin bleaching creams in Ebony in the 1950s and 1960s. Use of both hexachlorophene and mercury in cosmetics was restricted by the FDA in the early 1970s.
Since 1970 and continuing today, nonoxynol-9 has been regularly advertised, in all three magazines, as the active ingredient in vaginal spermicides. In the issues studied here, several ads for spermicides claim that nonoxynol-9 has no hormonal side effects. Although researchers' understanding of nonoxynol-9's possible effects in women's bodies is limited at present, a breakdown product of this chemical has been shown to have estrogen-like effects on cultured breast cancer cells in laboratory experiments.
Silent Spring Institute Executive Director Dr. Julia Brody noted, "The process of finding out how chemicals affect health is painstaking and slow. There is increasing interest in applying the precautionary principle -- the idea that we need to make decisions now based on what we know now -- in this type of situation. This current study illustrates how Silent Spring Institute is at the forefront of identifying exposures that may be related to health, so that we as a society can evaluate these possible risks.
Continued Dr. Brody, "If future studies can make the link between a woman's breast cancer risk and everyday products, this research could one day help prevent breast cancer. We're not there yet; but breast cancer prevention is our ultimate goal."
A funder of the study, attorney James Sokolove noted, "Currently there is inadequate product testing on consumer products, especially women's cosmetics. To me, this study illustrates the critical need for testing and can raise consumer awareness about the possible links between the environment and breast cancer. This study is a building block. I hope these preliminary findings will inspire others to support Silent Spring Institute's effort to continue pursuing research about the environmental causes of breast cancer."
Grants for the study came from the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation/Boston Race for the Cure, the Susan S. Bailis Breast Cancer Research Fund and The Law Offices of James Sokolove. Silent Spring Institute is a nonprofit research organization dedicated to identifying the links between the environment and women's health, especially breast cancer. Since 1994, Silent Spring Institute researchers have been exploring the possible relationship between product use and breast cancer. Other related studies by Silent Spring Institute researchers include the ongoing Cape Cod Breast Cancer and Environment Study and the Newton Breast Cancer Study, which was released in October 1999.
For more information call 617-332-4288 x28 or visit our website at www.silentspring.org
(1) Tiwary, C.M. Premature Sexual Development in Children Following the Use of Estrogen- or Placenta-Containing Hair Products. Clinical Pediatrics 37:733-740 (1998).
CONTACT: Schneider & Associates Jennifer Viera 617-536-3300 or Silent
Spring Institute Ruth Polk 617-332-4288 x28
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