Your morning and night routine may contain hidden hormone disruptors that interfere with your body’s delicate endocrine system. Endocrine-disrupting skincare products contain chemicals that mimic, block, or interfere with hormones, potentially affecting everything from fertility to metabolism. The chemicals are linked to a host of health problems in wildlife and humans alike, but remain widespread in personal care products.
Your largest organ is your skin, and there are certain groups of chemicals designed to help products penetrate the skin that have hormone-disrupting activity. Having knowledge of hormone-disrupting chemicals in your beauty bag places you in charge of making informed choices for long-term wellness.
The Hidden Culprits in Your Medicine Cabinet
Commonly cited EDCs in skincare include parabens, phthalates, benzophenone UV filters, some PFAS, and triclosan. Of all endocrine-disrupting chemicals, parabens, benzophenones, bisphenols, and phthalates are most widely used in personal care products. Parabens, benzophenones, bisphenols, and phthalates serve as preservatives and fragrance enhancers and provide UV protection, but contain hormone-disrupting activities of concern in repeated daily use.Â
The most problematic ingredients to watch for include:
- Dibutyl and diethylhexyl phthalates interfere with hormones and damage the reproductive system
- Isobutyl and isopropyl parabens interfere with hormones and damage reproductive health
- Long-chain PFAS chemicals cause cancer and hormone interference
- Benzophenone UV filters could interfere with estrogen and thyroid hormones
Parabens are found on ingredient labels as methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben. They’re used as preservatives in cosmetics, moisturizers, shaving cream, and hair care products. Research shows that daily exposure to these chemicals can cause disruptions at critical development stages and is particularly troubling for children and pregnant women.Â
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Why Your Hormones Are Vulnerable
Hormone-disrupting chemicals can mimic your own hormones, producing false signals that disrupt normal endocrine function. Personal care products expose you daily to them through skin absorption, and some are even designed to enhance permeability. This accumulates over time to provide cumulative exposure, with potential implications for hormone-sensitive processes such as reproduction, metabolism, and stress response.Â
The endocrine system maintains vital body processes such as growth, development, reproduction, and metabolism through complex relationships of hormones. Synthetic chemicals that interfere with these processes cause mild to severe hormonal imbalances as well as reproductive and developmental issues. Studies identified more hormone-disrupting chemicals in people who regularly use conventional personal care products compared to those who use cleaner product alternatives.
Women of color are disproportionately impacted by personal care products containing chemicals of concern, with research indicating higher toxicological concentrations of offending ingredients in products sold to these populations. This is a dimension of health disparity over product selection to more structural issues.Â
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Taking Control of Your Hormone Health
Endocrine-disrupting skincare information allows you to make knowledgeable choices that foster overall wellness rather than undermining it. Your day and nighttime beauty routines should feed your skin without undermining your hormonal health by exposing you to unnecessary chemicals. Adopt low-toxin skincare alternatives that utilize certified organic, plant-derived ingredients.Â
Start by scanning your current products with resources like EWG’s Skin Deep database to identify high-concern chemicals. Ready to protect your hormones and still have glowing skin? Begin by choosing one product category to transition to cleaner products and gradually build a hormone-safe routine.
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