Do Fragrance Chemicals Play a Role in Breast Cancer?

Synthetic musk compounds have been in use since the 1920s.  These compounds are in the soaps we use to clean our bodies, the toiletries we use, the detergents used on our clothes, and hundreds of other scented products that we use and encounter on a daily basis. Millions of pounds of these chemicals are used each year. They contaminate waterways and aquatic wildlife. They contaminate our bodies. Despite their decades of use, there is only limited information their effects on the human body and the environment.

It has been known since the early 1990s that nitromusk compounds were present in human fat tissue and mother's milk. By the mid-1990s, there was evidence of polycyclic musk bioaccumulation as well. The implications were not fully known, but it was a cause for concern. Further investigation was recommended. A decade later, the implications still are not known and the research is still limited. The available research raises even more concerns. There should be a public outcry for more answers, unfortunately the public does not know.

Any chemical that accumulates in body tissue should be of concern. There is ample evidence that both nitromusks and polycyclic musk accumulate in human fat  tissue and are found in breast milk. This means that these materials are found in breast tissue. The evidence does not stop there.

Of further concern is that musk zylene was carcinogenic in animal studies. There is evidence that musk ketone increases the carcinogenic effects of other materials. A German study took human breast cancer cells and exposed them to synthetic musks. It was found that musk xylene and its breakdown products, musk ketone, and the polycyclic musk AHTN caused an increased growth of the breast cancer cells. Further study suggests these materials have estrogenic effects.

A animal study done in 1998 found that musk xylene bioaccumulated in tissue, was found in milk, crossed the placental barrier and was found in offspring. Perhaps the most interesting finding of the study was,  "Female tissue levels were 3.7-6.8 times higher. This unexplained sex difference was unrelated to lipid content and was absent in offspring."

In a recently published article it was found that  musk xylene and musk tibetene had carcinogenic activity. As the evidence mounts, one has to wonder what role fragrance chemicals may play in breast cancer.