Researchers said the study may indicate studies with other chemicals that mimic or interact with estrogen did not consider the environment outside a lab dish. Moreover, the findings suggest that now used safety tests and their methodology might not reveal the real impact that parabens have on health.
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The team activated the receptor by adding heregulin, a growth factor that is normally produced by breast cells, and exposing the receptor to parabens.
The research was conducted on human breast cancer cells in a lab. Therefore, it is still not clear whether parabens have the same effect in the human body. According to lead author Dr. Dale Leitman of the University of California, Berkeley, this phenomenon causes the cells to multiply and increase the risk of breast cancer, Live Science reported.
Parabens activate the production of oestrogen, mimicking the natural hormone oestradiol.
The study was published with respect to the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign carried out in the month of October every year. About 25 percent of breast cancer cells produce HER2, which is found in tumors, and tends to grow and spread more aggressively than other types of breast cancer. The more a woman is exposed to estrogen, whether it’s from taking estrogen medications, being obese, or experiencing menopause later in life, the greater her risk of breast cancer. In relation to other molecules, parabens use may result in a potentiator of breast cancer or reproductive issues.
This type of ingredient has been used for more than 65 years, but in recent times, its safety has been questioned, beginning with the Philippa Darbre’s study that showed parabens had been detected in certain breast cancer tissue samples. Not only did the parabens trigger the estrogen receptors by turning on genes that caused the cells to proliferate, the effect was significant: The parabens in the HER2-activated cells were able to stimulate breast cancer cell growth at concentrations 100 times lower than in cells that were deprived of heregulin. In particular, one area of increasing concern is how exposure to multiple chemicals during critical periods of development including puberty and pregnancy increases a person’s susceptibility to breast cancer later in life. Called parabens, a team of researchers from the University of California Berkeley recently discovered these chemicals may be more risky at low doses than previously thought.
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“While this study focused on parabens, it’s also possible that the potency of other estrogen mimics have been underestimated by current testing approaches”, said Chris Vulpe, a toxicologist at the Center for Environmental and Human Toxicology at the University of Florida, in a press release.
