In recent years, many studies have shown that endocrine-disrupting chemicals can lead to numerous health problems, including cancer. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals alter the body’s production of important hormones like estrogen. The chemicals that alter the body’s production of estrogen can cause various cancers in women, from ovarian cancer to uterine cancer. Unfortunately, many common household products like hair straightening products contain endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
Read on to learn more about how endocrine-disrupting chemicals can increase your risk of cancer.
Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals may disrupt the production of estrogen and other hormones
Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) alter the body’s natural production of hormones. The most prominent hormone that EDCs can affect is estrogen. However, EDCs also affect many other hormones. Exposure to EDCs, especially long-term exposure to high levels of these chemicals, can lead to various health problems. In fact, researchers often discover new health problems that can be caused by EDCs.
There are a couple of ways that EDCs disrupt hormone production. First, some EDCs mimic natural hormones. This can deceive the body’s endocrine system by making it think that it has produced more hormones than it actually has. Other EDCs can keep natural hormones from working or change the body’s sensitivity to natural hormones.
EDCs can cause numerous health problems
There is a long list of health problems caused by EDCs. These chemicals can cause fertility problems in both men and women, endometriosis, nerve problems, immune system problems, metabolic disorders, and even neurological disabilities. The worst health problem caused by EDCs, however, is cancer.
EDCs can even increase the risk of cancer
EDCs can increase the risk of certain kinds of cancers. EDCs that mimic androgen or estrogen can increase the risk of prostate cancer and breast cancer. These chemicals have recently been linked with uterine cancer, as well. Public attention to this problem has increased due to many articles about the hair relaxer linked to cancer. People are now more aware that cancer-causing EDCs can be found in many beauty products.
New information linking EDCs and uterine cancer has been published
A new study linking hair straightening products and EDCs that was conducted by the National Institutes of Health was recently published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. This study showed that women who used hair straightening products frequently were much more likely to develop uterine cancer than those who did not. The study defined frequent usage of hair straightening products as using such products at least four times per year.
Hair straightening products often contain EDCs such as phthalates and parabens. This is believed to be the cause of the increased incidence of uterine cancer among the women who used hair straightening products frequently. These EDCs could also be causing higher rates of breast cancer.
It should be noted that black women have historically had a much higher rate of uterine cancer. This was once thought to be caused by a genetic predisposition to uterine cancer. However, it may instead be due to the higher usage of hair straightening products by black women.
