A 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 results, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives in March 2016, came from a study of 100 Latina teenagers.
The Health and Environmental Research on Makeup of Salinas Adolescents (HERMOSA) study is a community-university collaboration between UC Berkeley, Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas, and a team of youth researchers from the CHAMACOS Youth Council, a project to involve young people in public health and the environment.
Researchers provided teen study participants with personal care products labelled 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 …
