Personal Care Products and Human Health

Professor Philippa Darbre is Professor Emeritus in Oncology in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Reading in the UK. She is an academic scientist who has been carrying out research into estrogen action in breast cancer for over 40 years and has been investigating the role of estrogen-mimicking chemicals since before the term “endocrine disruption” came into being in the early 1990s. She trained as a biochemist and holds the degrees of BScHons from the University of Birmingham, UK (1973) and PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK (1977). Her postdoctoral research began at the Molecular Medicine Institute at the University of Oxford where she held the first Nuffield Medical Research Fellowship of the University of Oxford and a Junior Research Fellowship at St Hugh’s College. In 1981, she moved to the Imperial Cancer Research Fund laboratories in central London (now Cancer Research UK) where she became Head of the Cellular Endocrinology Laboratory. In 1991, she moved to the University of Reading and retired to Emeritus status in 2017. From retirement, she continues research into the role of endocrine disrupting chemicals in breast cancer together with some teaching of undergraduates in endocrinology and cancer. She continues to serve on the editorial board of the Journal of Applied Toxicology, is patron of the charity “Canceractive” and is a member of the science panel of the charity, BreastCancer UK. She has written two books on molecular biology methods, has guest-edited a previous journal volume on endocrine disrupters, has published 150 peer-reviewed research papers, and served as founding editor of the first edition of the book, Endocrine Disruption and Human Health.

"…reviews literature regarding adverse impacts of personal care products on both human and environmental health. One theme of the book is that increasing use of these products serves to magnify effects that might not occur at lower usage rates.... The book’s immediate audience is split between industry toxicologists and their counterparts in government, and it will find a readership home among broader panels of dermatologists as well as other clinicians. The book includes four broad sections devoted to constituents of personal care products, human exposures, human health concerns, and regulatory considerations.... [It] includes extensive references and is meticulously edited… While a concise entry, at just over three hundred pages, it makes a valuable contribution." --©Doody’s Review Service, 2024, John T. Pierce, MBBS(MD) PhD (Navy Environmental Health Center)

• Section 1 Introduction to the Constituents of PCPs And Their Functions1: Introduction to PCPs2. Overview of Constituent Compounds in PCPs3. Essential Oils4. Musk Fragrance5. Nanomaterials in PCPs6. Cosmeceuticals7. Plant-Based Skincare ProductsSection 2 Environmental Concerns8. Environmental Contamination of Freshwater Resources9. Toxicity in The Aquatic EnvironmentSection 3 Human Health Concerns10. Human Exposure to Components of PCPs11. Human Exposure and Uptake into Human Tissues12. Chemical Uptake into Human Tissues from PCP Use13. Allergic Contact Dermatitis14. Asthma and Allergic Diseases15. Endocrine Disruption16. Developmental Effects from Early Life Exposure17. Environmental Carcinogenesis18. Development of Cancer19. Aluminium-Based Antiperspirant and Breast DiseasesSection 4 Regulatory Considerations20. Removal of Rinse-Off PCPs From Water Systems21. Regulatory Needs and Public Education