It’s no secret that every day we’re exposed to hundreds, if not thousands of chemicals that can negatively affect our health. From the products we apply to our bodies, to the food we eat and the furniture we sit on, chemicals are lurking everywhere.
And though most chemicals are meant to improve our lives in some way, according to a study by the Silent Spring Institute there are likely almost 300 of them in your home right now that have the potential to help fuel breast cancer.
The hormones cancer cells need to grow
In fact, according to scientists, it’s likely that many chemicals act in the same way that the hormone therapies that were found to raise breast cancer risk worked.
You might remember back when studies found that women who were given combination hormone replacement therapy had an increased risk of breast cancer. Women everywhere stopped taking the drugs and breast cancer rates plummeted.
Well, those drugs changed hormone levels, raising estrogen and progesterone, which can feed cancer cells.
Breastcancer.org reports that “hormone disruptors can affect how estrogen and other hormones act in the body, by blocking them or mimicking them, which throws off the body’s hormonal balance.”
And that’s exactly what scientists say the chemicals in your household products are doing.
The cancer connection
“The connection between estrogen and progesterone and breast cancer is well established,” said Ruthann Rudel, a toxicologist and research director at Silent Spring Institute. “So, we should be extremely cautious about chemicals in products that increase levels of these hormones in the body.”
Her team of scientists decided to delve deep into these chemical risk factors and they combed through the data covering more than 2,000 chemicals that demonstrated what biological changes occur when you expose living cells to them.
All in all, they found a whopping 296 separate chemicals that increase either estradiol (a form of estrogen) or progesterone in cells in the laboratory. Seventy-one of them had the power to raise the level of both hormones.
The chemicals included ingredients in:
- Personal care products like hair dye
- Chemical flame retardants used in building materials and household furnishings
- A number of pesticides that could be coating your fruits and veggies
While the researchers say that they don’t yet know the exact mechanism behind how these chemicals are causing cells to produce more hormones that could feed breast cancer, what we do know is…
“Women are exposed to multiple chemicals from multiple sources on a daily basis, and that these exposures add up.”
Keeping your body healthy in a toxic world
And this study goes along with previous research that found 109 chemicals in the bodies of pregnant women — 55 of which have never been reported in people before — plus 42 “mystery chemicals” whose sources and uses are a complete unknown.
Clearly, the chemicals in the world around us are becoming a bigger threat than ever.
That’s why it’s so important to take the steps needed to reduce your toxic burden.
It’s especially vital to beware of the chemicals that could be contaminating your personal care routine in order to choose cleaner, safer options for the products you apply to your body.
Sources:
Study identifies nearly 300 chemicals, many in consumer products, that could increase breast cancer risk – Silent Spring Institute