Many people of reproductive age wear makeup. What exactly is in
these products that you put on your skin, lips and hair? Could chemicals from your makeup get
absorbed into your body and cause infertility or miscarriage? Stay tuned and I will discuss
One group of chemicals that give us some concern are called phthalates. Phthalates are contained in
many different types of cosmetics, lotions and other beauty products. They are easily
absorbed through your skin and are converted in your body into many different active chemicals.
Looking at phthalate levels in the body, scientists have found that women
generally have higher levels than men. This is thought to be due to the use of cosmetics.
Occupation is another factor that can lead to higher exposure. For example,
hairdressers have levels that are anywhere from two to ten times higher than an average woman.
Watch this video to learn which occupations are linked to a higher risk of miscarriage.
There have been several studies correlating phthalate levels measured in blood or urine
with reproductive outcomes in women. In some of these studies, scientists were able to link higher
phthalate exposure levels and infertility, longer time-to-pregnancy, earlier menopause,
premature ovarian failure and low antral follicle count.
There have also been at least three studies which focused on hairdressers
because they are a group that tends to have higher phthalate levels as I stated earlier. These
studies found that, as a group, hairdressers took longer to achieve pregnancy and had
higher rates of premature ovarian failure compared to women with low phthalate levels.
These studies are concerning. However, not all studies have found a link. Plus,
when reviewing some of the studies that did find a link, researchers have found many problems with
the methods of those studies leading them to conclude that the link is undetermined.
Parabens are a group of chemicals typically used as preservatives in a variety of products
including makeup, shampoos, and conditioners. Studies in the laboratory have demonstrated that
parabens can act as “endocrine disruptors”, in other words, they might interfere with
normal hormone function. There has not been a lot of study on whether parabens might cause
infertility. One study from Japan found that college students with higher paraben levels
tended to have shorter menstrual cycles. Another study linked parabens with lower estrogen levels.
Most importantly, I was able to find one study that found
lower monthly fertility in women but only when they compared women who had the very
highest paraben levels in their urine compared to those who had the very lowest levels
Triclosan is a chemical that is used to slow the growth of bacteria. Just like the other
chemical we have talked about, it can be found in cosmetics, a certain amount can be absorbed
into the body and there is concern about it being an endocrine disruptor. However,
one study which tried to determine whether triclosan reduces the reserve of viable eggs,
failed to find any impact. Another study failed to find any relationship between
triclosan levels and the time it took to achieve pregnancy.
So what is the bottom line here? There is a lot of suspicion that chemicals in your makeup
and beauty products could be harmful to your fertility but little to no good data that it
does. Is there any harm to trying to reduce your exposure to these chemicals? No. There is no harm.
You could stop wearing makeup for example. This might help but there are other sources of these
chemicals as well. There are also companies that make products that do not have these chemicals.
As long as those products are no more expensive, then you could try those as well.