Estrogenic and anti-estrogenic activity of off-the-shelf hair and skin care products.
Use of personal care products is widespread in the United States but tends to be greater among African Americans than whites. Of special concern is the possible hazard of absorption of chemicals with estrogenic activity (EA) or anti-EA (AEA) in these products. Such exposure may have adverse health effects, especially when it occurs during developmental windows (e.g., prepubertally) when estrogen levels are low. We assessed the ethanol extracts of eight commonly used hair and skin products popular among African Americans for EA and AEA using a cell proliferation assay with the estrogen sensitive MCF-7:WS8 cell line derived from a human breast cancer. Four of the eight personal care products tested (Oil Hair Lotion, Extra-dry Skin Lotion, Intensive Skin Lotion, Petroleum Jelly) demonstrated detectable EA, whereas three (Placenta Hair Conditioner, Tea-Tree Hair Conditioner, Cocoa Butter Skin Cream) exhibited AEA. Our data indicate that hair and skin care products can have EA or AEA, and suggest that laboratory studies are warranted to investigate the in vivo activity of such products under chronic exposure conditions as well as epidemiologic studies to investigate potential adverse health effects that might be associated with use of such products.
1] Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA [2] University of California Davis Health System, Sacramento, CA, USA.
Sharon L
SL
Myers
CertiChem, Austin, TX, USA.
Chun Z
CZ
Yang
1] CertiChem, Austin, TX, USA [2] Neurobiology Section and School of Biology, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.
George D
GD
Bittner
Division of the National Toxicology Program, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
Kristine L
KL
Witt
Division of the National Toxicology Program, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
Raymond R
RR
Tice
Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
Donna D
DD
Baird
D001741:Black or African American; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects*; D003358:Cosmetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004965:Estrogen Antagonists / Q000032:analysis / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004967:Estrogens / Q000032:analysis / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006197:Hair; D006801:Humans; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017592:Skin Care; D014481:United States
D003358:Cosmetics; D004965:Estrogen Antagonists; D004967:Estrogens