08.21.08
Skin cancer from moisturizers? It seems skin care products are enjoying (!) greater scrutiny than ever before. It might be the enormous public reaction to the bombshell launched by the EWG a month ago related to carcinogens in sunscreens. It is past time that the many suspect ingredients in our popular skin care products be investigated. It’s not just that the products do not live up to their bogus claims, we all know how that works, but that they may contain ingredients that pose health risks. And yes, many of these ingredients are absorbed by the body.
This article will be of interest to many of you.
Beiersdorf defends cream against skin cancer claims
By Guy Montague-Jones
19-Aug-2008 - Beiersdorf has hit back against academic research on mice that linked its Eucerin moisturizer to skin cancer.
Researchers at Rutgers University, New Jersey, found the number of non-melanoma tumors was significantly higher in mice treated with commonly-used creams than the control group.
Cream increases cancer risk in mice
In a paper published last week in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, the scientists said tumor rates were 24 per cent higher in the mice treated with Beiersdorf’s Eucerin Original Moisturizing Cream.
Beiersdorf has now responded to the research findings with a host of criticisms.
The Germany-based company said the research “selected only a special line of hairless mice that are highly susceptible to developing tumors when exposed to UVB.”
Leading study author Allan Conney was also guarded about the implications of the study for humans saying that more research is necessary to determine the significance of the findings.
Research dismissed as irrelevant
Beiersdorf’s criticisms went further concluding that the study was ‘clinically not relevant’.
The company said the paper does not comply with scientifically accepted or validated methods outlined in OECD guidelines. Beiersdorf also claimed the study lacked dose-response relationships, positive controls, an appropriate placebo group and historical data on the test method.
Beiersdorf’s Eucerin Original Moisturising Cream was not the only product put under the microscope.
The scientists also looked at Dermabase by Paddock Laboratories, Dermovan by Healthpoint, and Vanicream by Pharmaceutical Specialties.
