Moisturizers May Cause Cancer
Early in my teens my mother lectured me on the importance of moisturizing regularly. Growing up in California in an age when sunscreen was for wimps the women we knew who failed to moisturize faithfully were just as blond, tan and thin as everyone else but their faces resembled leather home theater seating: obviously cared for and yet well-worn, replete with the fine lines and cracks one associates with tanned hide.
Like many pieces of advice administered by my mother — pearls like not crossing my eyes lest they stick that way and always wearing clean underwear and fresh lipstick when leaving the house — I blew off the moisturizer mantra. Now it turns out that I might have been right, because researchers at Rutger University have found a firm link between common moisturizers and non-melanoma skin cancer.
Researchers were led by Dr. Allan Conney from Rutgers University, as they ran a test on mice to see what type of effect these moisturizers had on their bodies.
They tested four common types, Dermavan, Eucerin, Vanicream, and Dermabase.
What they found was that all four were linked to the development of skin cancer tumors on the mice tested in the study.
They were not looking directly to see if moisturizers caused skin cancer, but instead sort of stumbled into the discovery.
Obviously, further research is needed to determine what compound, precisely, is the problem. In the meantime, however, I’m going to console myself that, along with cleavage, being wrinkle-free is an unexpected benefit of being overweight.
Always looking on the bright side, I am.
aTags: moisturizer, skin cancer
I’m skeptical, but then I always am 
If moisturizers caused skin cancers, wouldn’t you think women would have more skin cancer than men? As far as I know, they don’t.
It could be another case of mouse sensitivity when there’s no corresponding one in humans. Still best to be careful, but I’m not sure the way my skin gets dry now that I’m “older” is good either. At least the itching and subsequent scratching makes it look really bad.
Comment by Donna B. on August 19, 2008 at 2:11 amIn fact, it’s just the opposite: skin cancer does kill more men than women.
I’ve done a little more research and found that the moisturizers did NOT cause cancer. Rather, the mice had been exposed to ultraviolet rays previously, which means their skins had already been damaged. After damage, those using the moisturizers mentioned had skin cancer more often that grew more readily.
# Dermabase increased the total number of tumors by 69%.
# Dermovan increased the total number of tumors by 95%.
# Eucerin increased the total number of tumors by 24%.
# Vanicream increased the total number of tumors by 58%.
Now, think about the gender differences in sun exposure. We’ve always assumed that men get skin cancer more often because they use sun block less often.
But what’s another thing men do when their skin gets dry and burned from sun damage? They grab hand cream — which all of those mentioned above are — and rub it on their faces. Women know better.
The one thing the study definitely makes clear is the need for further testing of not only the moisturizers’ components but their interaction with damaged skin cells . We’ve grown so used to applying chemical concoctions of individually “safe” components to our bodies that perhaps we don’t often enough take into consideration their unintended reactions.
Comment by Chubby Mommy on August 19, 2008 at 8:25 amThat’s an interesting insight. I think I was going on experience in my own family, where the men don’t use creams anywhere on their body. I have noticed that the men in my family that suffer from skin cancer have it most on their faces, especially the nose area.
Comment by Donna B. on August 20, 2008 at 3:32 amBecause everything causes cancer…
This week, it’s moisturizers: According to a new study released by researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey, a firm link has been found between very common moisturizers and the development of skin cancer. Researchers were led by Dr. Allan……
Trackback by dustbury.com on August 21, 2008 at 7:19 am
RSS