Moisturizers Can Give You Cancer

What you don\'t know about your moisturizer might cause cancer.

2008-12-23 22:34:32 - Common non-prescription skin moisturizers can cause cancer, but there are no warnings and no listings of dangerous ingredients on labels or packaging.

Skin moisturizers have long been one of the fastest growing categories in cosmetics and toiletries. Aging baby boomers are especially keen on maintaining their youthful appearance and on treating dry and sun-damaged skin.

But there's a deadly secret lurking. Moisturizers can cause cancer.

The first clear indication came in August 2008, when Rutgers University researchers showed that four commonly used moisturizers promoted skin cancer in mice. Included in that study were popular brands Dermabase, Eucerin Original Moisturizing Cream, and Vanicream.

The scarier news came in December 2008, when a Doctor of Pharmacology, Adrienne C. Olson of Breastlink in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, reported that lab analysis confirmed the presence of powerful estrogens - known to cause cancer - in a half-dozen non-prescription skin moisturizers. None of the products listed estrogen among their ingredients on labels or packaging.

Dr. Olson, a breast cancer survivor, had found that an OTC skin moisturizer she was using was working almost too well. She suspected it might contain estrogen, which is capable of producing what most women would call 'a youthful appearance'.

She bought 16 non-prescription skin moisturizers in all price ranges and sent samples to a research laboratory for testing. The estrogen hormones estradiol, estrone, and estriol were found in six of the products; the other moisturizers may contain these or other estrogens, but the tests weren't sensitive enough to detect them, Dr. Olson says.

Estrogen can cause breast cancer. That was established in a major clinical trial that was reported in 2002. Called the Women's Health Initiative study, it showed that breast cancers increased among women getting hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which involved the taking of pills containing both estrogen-like and progesterone-like female hormones. The results, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, identified a nearly 30% increase in the risk of breast cancer among women taking combination HRT pills.

Estrogens that are applied to the skin are more dangerous than estrogen pills, because the chemicals are absorbed into the body more efficiently. Applying estrogen-laced moisturizers on a daily basis is basically dosing your body with cancer-causing drugs, raising your risk of breast cancer in particular.
Dr. Olson isn't taking any chances - she's switched to baby oil 'and nothing else'.

For now, consumers have no one to protect them. Moisturizers are classified as 'cosmetics' by the FDA, so they are entirely unregulated.

Useful links are available at MoisturizerCancer.com.

If you think moisturizers have damaged your skin or caused your cancer, you should consult with an attorney about the possibility of suing the manufacturer. Links to lawyers and other useful information are at WhoCanWeSue.com.