Can Chemicals in Makeup and Cosmetics Cause Breast Cancer?
Updated on November 19, 2025
Many people use cosmetics like makeup, lotion, and perfume every day. Although these products can make us feel good about how we look and smell, some contain chemicals that may increase cancer risk.
Studies have linked several ingredients in cosmetics to cancer. But very few have looked at the long-term risks of exposure to cosmetics. That's because it would be very hard to carry out these studies, and because companies don’t need long-term safety data to be able to sell these products. The research that does exist usually looks at exposure to ingredients at very high concentrations. It doesn’t study people using cosmetics, but scenarios like workplace exposure where exposure levels, route, and length of exposure are very different.
This leaves a lot of unknowns about which cosmetics ingredients are dangerous — and if so, how much a person must use a product to have an increased risk of cancer. Whether chemicals raise cancer risk and by how much depends on your exposure, or how much gets inside your body. Some ingredients that raise cancer risk only do so at large concentrations — more than you would be exposed to just by using cosmetics. But some may be enough to increase your risk at lower concentrations, especially if you use a lot of beauty products or apply them multiple times per day.
This makes it hard to know whether certain cosmetics affect cancer risk. Even experts have different opinions on how important it is to avoid various ingredients.
How do unsafe chemicals end up in cosmetics?
There are two main ways that chemicals end up in cosmetics: they are ingredients or they are accidentally added to the cosmetics during production (contaminants). And because federal oversight of these products is lax, there are concerns that some cosmetics may contain unsafe chemicals.
Cosmetics in the U.S. are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA has a strict approval process for drugs that involves multiple rounds of testing, but this regulation is very different for cosmetics. The FDA says that cosmetics must be safe, but they don’t do much to enforce that, says Robin Dodson, ScD, a chemical exposure scientist at the Silent Spring Institute, a nonprofit research organization that focuses on the links between breast cancer and chemical exposure. For example, there is a lack of data on potential long-term effects of cosmetics, like cancer risk, because the FDA doesn’t require it to be studied.
“The regulations to protect consumers are woefully outdated,” Dodson says.
California is the only state that requires cosmetics sold in its borders to report if any of its ingredients are suspected or known to cause cancer or reproductive harm such as birth defects.
Ingredients to watch out for
Cosmetics must be labeled with their ingredients. But labels don’t need to list fragrances or trade-secret ingredients.
Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde is used as a preservative in some cosmetics. Formaldehyde is able to damage DNA, which may lead to cancer. Most products that smooth or straighten hair release formaldehyde gas in the air when heated, according to the FDA. Formaldehyde or chemicals that release formaldehyde can also be found in cosmetics like nail polish, eyelash glue, eyeliner, body wash, body lotion, face soap, face cream, shampoo, conditioner, curl cream, hair oil, hair mousse, and hair gel. Sometimes formaldehyde might be added to an ingredient rather than to the product formula, so it may not be on the ingredient list.
A few states like Washington are banning formaldehyde in cosmetics. But in general, formaldehyde is allowed in cosmetics in the U.S.
To avoid formaldehyde if you get your hair straightened, ask your stylist to use a formula that does not contain or release it. Avoid all personal care products with formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releaser, which may include these ingredient names:
formalin
paraformaldehyde
parform
formic aldehyde
methylene glycol
methanal
methylene oxide
methyl aldehyde
formol
CAS Number 50-00-0
DMDM hydantoin
quaternium-15
diazolidinyl urea
imidiazolidinyl urea
sodium hydroxymethyglycinate
BHA
BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) is a preservative added to many cosmetics and foods. Some animal studies have found that it raises cancer risk, some that it lowers it, and some that it has no effect. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a research agency that is part of the World Health Organization, says that BHA is possibly carcinogenic to humans based on animal studies. But some experts argue the way BHA causes tumors in animals doesn’t happen in humans. BHA may act like estrogen and disrupt the balance of androgens, a type of sex hormone that includes testosterone, so it’s categorized as a hormone disruptor.
Parabens
Parabens are hormone disruptors commonly used as preservatives in cosmetics like makeup, moisturizers, hair care products, and shaving creams/gels. They affect how hormones act in the body by blocking them or mimicking them. Parabens can be absorbed through the skin and act like a very weak estrogen in the body. Because estrogen raises the risk of hormone receptor-positive breast cancers, the thought is that chemicals that act like estrogen, such as parabens, could do the same. There is mixed evidence on whether they raise cancer risk. Studies in cells and animals show that they can affect cell growth and cell death in a way that could increase breast cancer risk. But there hasn’t been much research in humans. At least one study has found a link between parabens and breast cancer in people, but other research has not found a link.
Parabens may appear on ingredient labels as:
propylparaben (or propyl 4-hydroxylbenzoate)
butylparaben (or butyl 4-hydroxylbenzoate)
ethylparaben (or ethyl 4-hydroxylbenzoate)
heptylparaben (or heptyl 4-hydroxylbenzoate)
methylparaben (or methyl 4-hydroxybenzoate)
Phthalates
Phthalates are commonly used to hold color and reduce brittleness in nail polish. Phthalates are a hormone disruptor. They don't act exactly like estrogen, but they can disrupt the balance of other hormones that interact with estrogen, like testosterone. Phthalates may raise breast cancer risk, but although some studies have found a link between the two, overall evidence is not conclusive.
Phthalates are often in personal care product fragrances. They may also appear on an ingredients label as:
di-(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate
diethyl phthalate
dibutyl phthalate
dimethyl phthalate
Fragrance
Avoid personal care products with fragrances or parfum because companies don’t need to report which chemicals they use to make them. Fragrance can contain potentially dangerous chemicals like phthalates.
Contaminants to watch out for
Some chemicals of concern aren’t added to cosmetics as an ingredient but are instead common contaminants.
Benzene
Major medical organizations agree that the chemical benzene raises the risk of cancer, particularly leukemia and other blood-related cancers. Benzene isn’t used as an ingredient in personal care products, but it sometimes is found in them as a contaminant. It’s mostly found in products that are sprayed on, such as deodorants, sunscreens, and dry shampoo. It has also been found in acne products, including those with benzoyl peroxide that have been exposed to high temperatures. Store acne products in cool areas away from sunlight to prevent chemicals in them from breaking down into benzene. But be aware that research has not found a link between cancer and the levels of benzene present in contaminated cosmetics.
Ethylene oxide
Ethylene oxide is a compound found in a wide range of cosmetics, usually as a contaminant because it’s used to kill microbes on factory equipment. When large amounts are inhaled, it can cause breast cancer, lymphocytic leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and myeloma. There is not evidence that exposure at a concentration found in cosmetics and absorbed by the skin is enough to raise cancer risk.
Heavy metals
Heavy metals are found in some cosmetics, usually as a contaminant but sometimes they’re added for color. Absorption through the skin is low, but these levels can build up in the body over time. Many heavy metals — including chromium, cadmium, barium, cobalt, and arsenic — are confirmed or suspected carcinogens. They may increase cancer risk in a variety of ways, such as by disrupting proteins called enzymes and increasing damage from unstable oxygen-containing molecules. However, heavy metals are usually only in cosmetics at low levels, and there is no evidence that using cosmetics contaminated with heavy metals affects cancer risk.
1,4-Dioxane
This chemical is a likely human carcinogen that has been found in some beauty products in small amounts. In animals, ingesting 1,4-dioxane over a lifetime can cause cancer, and exposure through skin can enhance the cancer-causing effects of other chemicals. But there hasn’t been much research on 1,4-dioxane and cancer in humans.
The ingredients most likely to contain 1,4-dioxane are:
polyethylene glycol (PEG)
polyethylene
polyoxyethylene
any chemical ending in -oxynol
What to do if you’re concerned about cosmetics and breast cancer
Using makeup and other cosmetics is not the only way people are exposed to cancer-promoting chemicals, Dodson says. People are exposed to many of the same chemicals in other areas of their life, like at work or through food and water. So, it makes sense to avoid exposure through cosmetics when you can, particularly for chemicals with the strongest link to cancer, she says.
Of course, the best way to avoid exposure to potentially dangerous chemicals in cosmetics is to stop using them. But many people don’t want to give up their beauty routines. So, there are a few steps people can take to limit their risk from using cosmetics:
When shopping for products, carry a list of ingredient names to avoid. Focus on avoiding products with ingredients that are known to or strongly suspected to raise cancer risk, such as formaldehyde. It can also be easy to avoid products that include fragrance. To help you find cosmetics and other everyday products with safe ingredients, Silent Spring offers a free app called Detox Me.
If you can’t be picky about all of the cosmetics you use, pay attention to the products that you leave on because they have more of a chance to get into your body. This includes products like makeup and lotion. She also recommends focusing on products that you use near your eyes, mouth, or nose because chemicals can easily get into the body through them.
To avoid potentially dangerous contaminants, Dodson recommends buying products that have certified third-party testing of ingredients.