Why are we still asking what causes breast cancer? How is it possible that despite decades of awareness and research, the statistics aren't changing...one in eight women are still being diagnosed and at younger and younger ages than ever before?

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What if we could decrease the chemical exposures that are causal factors to this disease and prevent breast cancer from occurring in the first place? And, who better to fiercely advocate for this research than cancer survivors themselves?

Groundbreaking, community-based research links phthalates and parabens in personal care products to a higher breast cancer risk. Our published study suggests women who eliminate use of personal care products containing estrogen-like chemicals may reduce risk of breast cancer.

Studying The Impact of Chemical Exposure On The Human Breast

Subsequently, breast cancer survivors, in collaboration with experienced breast cancer researchers, conducted this unique research project aimed to assess the impact of reducing specific chemical exposures on breast cells.

Novel Approach to Breast Cancer Prevention Research

• Only healthy young women who regularly used personal care products containing parabens and phtalates were eligible. Additionally, they had to agree to donate their normal breast cells twice during a 28 day period.
• Study participants agreed to discontinue use of all personal care products containing parabens and phthalates, which are estrogen-like manufactured chemicals.
•. Each participant in the intervention group received substitute “clean” products, that did not contain parabens or phthalates.
•. Participants donated their normal breast cells via fine needle aspiration both pre- and post replacement of personal care products. Blood and urine samples were also collected and analyzed.
• The cells were cultured in the lab and analyzed for changes in cellular features and gene expression associated with breast cancer risk.

First of Its Kind Community-Based Participatory Research Published

The results of the study have been published in the scientific journal Chemosphere ("Reduction of daily-use parabens and phthalates reverses accumulation of cancer-associated phenotypes within disease-free breast tissue of study subjects").
The recent publication prompted Environmental Health News to present an accessible interpretation of the study’s results entitled “Get phthalates, parabens out of the bathroom drawer to reduce breast cancer risk: Study” for non-scientific audiences.

Research Designed for Immediate Answers to Empower Women Now

• Community-based : we sought answers to questions asked by people in the affected community (not by medical centers and drug companies funding research for the purpose of lucrative treatments and “the cure”).
• Participatory because the people who need these answers (you and me) participated in the research by donating their own healthy cells and recruiting others who did the same;
• Innovative in that we studied the effects of commonly encountered chemicals on human breast cells (not cancer cells or rodent cells) with a healthy intervention;
• Designed for quicker answers by studying cellular changes to chemical exposures in real time rather than traditional research that seeks correlations between exposures and cancer only after a woman is diagnosed;
• Empowering women to protect themselves by providing information on what we put on our bodies that may increase our risk of developing breast cancer.

Healthy Breast Cells

Paraben and Phthalate-Free Products

Published Research

Seeking Answers For Our Children

Shanaz Dairkee, PhD

SENIOR SCIENTIST

Scientific Principal Investigator, responsible for culturing, testing, and observing breast cells in the laboratory.

Our Research Team

William Goodson MD

SURGICAL BREAST ONCOLOGIST

Clinical Collaborator responsible for obtaining breast tissue samples from study participants through fine needle aspiration.

Polly Marshall

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BREAST CANCER OVERTIME

Community Principal Investigator, responsible for recruiting, coordinating, and supporting study participants.

Samantha Torres MPH

STUDY COORDINATOR

Study Coordinator responsible for assisting in recruiting, coordinating, and supporting study participants.

We are pleased to share this list of paraben, phthalate, and artificial fragrance-free personal care products used by study participants in the “healthy intervention” phase of our study, many of which were donated by the manufacturers for our use. Liquid products were provided to participants in Go-Toobs, silicone-based travel containers made by HumanGear, to help avoid contamination from phthalates and other chemicals often shed by plastic containers.

Beauty Counter sunscreen and make-up products
Luminance skin care products (body lotion, facial moisturizer, facial cleansing oil, bar soap, lip balm)
EcoApothecary shampoo, conditioner, and body wash

Tom’s of Maine toothpaste, dental floss, and deodorant
Schmidt’s deodorant
Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap (for dish washing)
Bathing Culture Mind & Body Wash

Pacifica make-up
Mineral Fusion make-up
100% Pure make-up
Juice Beauty make-up
Badger sunscreen, hand cream, and lip balm

* Manufactured chemicals, such as phthalates and parabens, found in many consumer products mimicking natural hormone estrogen. Exposures to these “xenoestrogens” (Latin for “foreign” estrogen), or “XEs”, have been linked to mammary cancer in rodents and shown to cause pre-cancerous changes in normal human breast cell cultures grown in the laboratory. Building on recent studies that show that the presence of XEs in blood or urine decreases when study participants decrease their exposure to XEs through changes in diet or use of personal care products, this study measured the impact of decreased XE exposure from personal care products (such as lotion, shampoo, deodorant, and make-up) on healthy human breast cells while still in the human body.

The study used a novel methodology previously developed by research team members to compare breast cells donated by volunteers through fine needle aspiration before and after a 28-day healthy intervention requiring use of XE- free personal care products. Studying the role of XEs in cellular changes that precede the genesis of breast cancer provides key insights into the biological processes of cancer development, playing an important role in breast cancer prevention.