12 Skincare Ingredients Linked to Cancer & Safe DIY Swaps

Yes. We tend to think that all body care products are safe because they are sold at stores, but with so many hidden cancer risks in skincare products it’s wise to look twice at the labels before putting something on your skin.

For many of us, it comes as a shock to realize that many of the most toxic chemicals in our homes are hidden in our bathroom cupboards, but be encouraged. They are super easy to avoid and we’re going to show you how!

What You Put on Your Skin Gets In

When most people think of cancer-causing chemicals (carcinogens), they picture cigarette smoke, industrial pollution, or maybe even pesticides in food. But did you know many everyday bathroom products—shampoos, lotions, deodorants, and body washes contain known carcinogens?

These harmful chemicals don’t just sit on your skin. Your skin is your body’s largest organ, and while it was designed as a barrier, it’s also permeable. That means toxins can slip through the surface and accumulate in deeper tissues especially fat. Since many carcinogens are fat-soluble, this creates a dangerous long-term exposure risk.

How Carcinogens Enter Through the Skin

Think about transdermal drug patches. Doctors use them because the skin is so effective at delivering medicine directly into the bloodstream. Unfortunately, toxic chemicals in body care products can travel the same way.

And it’s not just through touch. Fragrances, solvents, and aerosols in bathroom products can be inhaled, irritating the lungs and carrying chemicals straight into your body. What smells like “fresh spring” or “tropical breeze” may actually be spreading inflammation.

The Impact on Children and Mothers

If you’re a mom, what touches your skin doesn’t stay with you. Studies have found pesticides, phthalates, and sunscreen chemicals in breast milk—often at concentrations above the “safe” adult limit. That means unborn babies and nursing infants are being exposed to known carcinogens through their mother’s everyday cosmetic use.

A Simple Test: The Garlic Experiment

Want proof of how quickly your skin absorbs what it touches? Try the garlic test:

1. Rub raw garlic on the sole of your bare foot.
2. Wait a few minutes.
3. Notice when you begin tasting garlic in your mouth.

Most people notice it in just 3–5 minutes. If garlic can penetrate so fast—without any chemical “penetration enhancers” like many cosmetics contain—imagine how quickly synthetic chemicals can get inside.

The bottom line, your skin care products should nourish you, not expose you to cancer risks. By avoiding carcinogenic ingredients and choosing non-toxic alternatives, you reduce your toxic load, protect your children, and give your body the chance to thrive.

Check your labels. Ditch products with known carcinogens. Choose clean, God-honoring alternatives.

There’s No Safe Dose of Carcinogens

When it comes to bathroom products, the problem isn’t just trace exposure. Known carcinogens in cosmetics and skincare aren’t present in tiny parts per million (ppm) or parts per billion (ppb) like pollutants in water or preservatives in packaged food. They’re often main ingredients—applied daily to the skin, lips, and hands where absorption and ingestion are inevitable.

For perspective: the lead in drinking water or the tocopherols in crackers exist in micro-quantities. But the sodium lauryl sulfate in body wash? That’s a dominant ingredient. Applied directly to your skin—your body’s largest and most porous organ—it doesn’t just sit there. It penetrates, accumulates, and impacts your health.

Why Concentration Matters

Your skin wasn’t designed to handle a chemical cocktail. Yet many personal care products contain:

• Preservatives to prolong shelf life.
• Foaming agents to make soaps lather.
• Fragrances to smell “fresh.”
• Penetration enhancers to push chemicals deeper.

Each of these comes with a cost. Unnatural formulations create unnatural consequences. Unlike natural nutrients, carcinogenic chemicals are hard for the body to excrete. They accumulate in tissues, especially fat, compounding harm over time.

The Cumulative Effect

Your skin’s innermost layer—the hypodermis, or fat layer—is meant to insulate and protect. But with fat-soluble carcinogens, protection backfires. Instead of blocking toxins, the fat layer stores them, creating a reservoir of risk.

This raises sobering questions:

• How much formaldehyde is “acceptable” to absorb through your lotion?
• How much coal tar belongs in your daughter’s lip balm?
• How much mercury is safe in your child’s dental filling?

The truth: there is no safe level of a carcinogen. Every exposure adds to the burden.

A Global Perspective

Other nations take this seriously. The European Union has banned over 1,300 cosmetic ingredients due to health risks. Japan and Canada have similar restrictions. And the United States? Only 11 ingredients are banned. That’s not a typo—eleven.

This stark gap leaves Americans among the least protected consumers in the developed world when it comes to toxic personal care products.

Truth is… if you wouldn’t drink a glass of water laced with carcinogens, why put them on your skin? Reducing exposure is the only safe threshold. Choosing clean, non-toxic alternatives isn’t just a lifestyle upgrade—it’s a necessity for protecting your long-term health.

12 Cancer-Causing Ingredients Hiding in Your Skincare

1. Formaldehyde

Formaldehyde (and formaldehyde releasers such as: bronopol, DMDM hydantoin, diazolidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea, and quaternium-15) is classified as a known human carcinogen by both the IARC and the NTP.  This is the product used to preserve bodies for scientific research—how can it possibly belong in your cosmetics? It is frequently included as a preservative in nail polish, shampoo, hair conditioner, baby wash, body wash, facial cleansers, and eye shadow.

2. Phthalates

Phthalates especially diethyl phthalate—feminizes American male newborns. The emasculating effects of phthalates in otherwise healthy male infants, including an irreversible decrease in genital growth and development, reduced male hormone levels, and impaired adult sexual function, directly correlates to the mother’s level of phthalates during pregnancy—a more severe effect than exposure during adulthood.

To make matters worse, maternal phthalate levels during pregnancy also correlate with reduced IQ in children at 7 years of age, even when levels are within safe limits. Sources of phthalates include anything packaged in flexible plastic containers, perfume, deodorant, hair spray, shampoo, soap, and lotion, as well as nail polish and nail care products. Phthalates are also included in most fragrance blends since the public is increasingly aware of the harm they cause, and since cosmetic manufacturers are not required to list the individual ingredients in their fragrance blends.

In addition, many infant care products, such as baby wash, baby shampoo, baby lotion, diaper cream, and scented baby powder (with or without talc) increase the urinary level of phthalates in infants. Phthalates are endocrine disruptors that raise the risk of breast cancer in women, induce early puberty in girls, and cause reproductive birth defects in newborn boys and girls.

3. Parabens

Parabens are a known carcinogen that have been found intact in human breast cancer tumors.  Even prior to the discovery of parabens’ link to breast cancer, it was widely known that parabens in cosmetics readily penetrate skin. Parabens used in cosmetics have been shown to exhibit estrogenic effects (i.e. feeding estrogen-dependent tumors and binding to estrogen receptor sites, thus increasing circulating estrogen levels) in breast cancer cultures. Parabens are alleged to increase the incidence of female breast cancer, interfere with male reproductive function, and stimulate the development of malignant melanoma.

Estrogenic stimulation itself has also recently been shown to encourage the growth of malignant melanoma, so parabens may feed this cancer in multiple ways, as they demonstrate both estrogenic and androgenic disruption, and are genotoxic, meaning they damage genes in such a way that cancer-causing mutations form. Parabens lower sperm count and are associated with male infertility. Parabens demonstrate similar hormone disrupting and carcinogenic activity in the environment as they do in human health. They also alter maternal (and thus infant) hormone levels during pregnancy. They are even used as synthetic preservatives in cosmetics such as makeup, facial cleanser, body wash, deodorant, and shampoo.

4. Synthetic Color

Early synthetic dyes, first introduced in the 1800s, came from coal tar. Today, most are petroleum-based. Some food colorings called “lakes” (like FD&C Blue Lake 1) are made by combining dyes with minerals such as aluminum salts.

In the U.S., all color additives for food, drugs, and cosmetics must be FDA-approved and batch-certified—with one major loophole: coal-tar hair dyes. These dyes can still be sold without pre-market approval as long as they carry a small FDA-mandated warning label.
History has already shown the danger. Back in 1950, children became sick from FD&C Orange No. 1, forcing it off the market. Yet many other dyes remain, despite ongoing research linking artificial colors to hyperactivity and behavioral issues in children.

Each batch of FDA-certified dye is tested for color strength, moisture, and purity. But here’s the catch: the FDA still allows trace amounts of lead, arsenic, and mercury to be present—so long as they fall “below regulated limits.”

The most concerning? Benzidine-based dyes. Benzidine is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a known human carcinogen. Some dyes can break down into benzidine inside the body, and while their use is restricted, they haven’t been fully eliminated from the marketplace.
Bottom line: Just because a synthetic color is FDA-approved doesn’t mean it’s safe. If it can metabolize into a carcinogen—or carry heavy metals—you don’t want it on your skin or in your body.

5. Synthetic Fragrance

Synthetic fragrances are among the trickiest labeling problems to address. Due to a legal loophole intended to allow manufacturers to protect their proprietary blends, secret formulas, or trade secrets, the ingredients in a fragrance blend are protected from the normal ingredient declaration requirement under the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA).

Fragrance blends and their secret ingredients are strongly associated with allergic reactions and skin disorders. Some are listed as likely carcinogens.

Fragrance blends can be found in every type of cosmetic and body care product imaginable, and although fragrance-free options are increasingly available, almost all body care products contain artificial fragrance. The phrase “fragrance” on the label could be any one of over 2,000 chemicals and you’d never know it. Try using essential oils in diffusers, or making your own perfumes to replace these toxic chemicals!

6. Pesticides

Pesticides are commonly used in grass and weed killers. But did you know they may be lurking in your favorite cosmetic and body care products? Due to gross misuse of a conditional registration provision, many pesticides are included in household products without completing the EPA’s required testing process.

In 2008, a watchdog group (the Natural Resources Defense Council) called conditional registration into question. Here are some sobering facts: since 1972, approximately 90,000 pesticides have been registered, and over 25,000 of them were granted conditional registration—more than 1 in 4 pesticides reached market in nearly innumerable products without oversight of their safety testing, if in fact, any testing was conducted at all!

Yet even with the call to review these, there are still hundreds of chemicals pending review. And the review process can take a decade or more to complete. In 2010, of the 16,000 pesticides currently registered and in use, 11,000 were registered conditionally. That is over 2/3 of the pesticides in use with no accountability at all.

Studies confirm the endocrine damage of pesticide exposure, even at doses too low to produce acute symptoms. California EPA’s Proposition 65 lists several pesticides as known carcinogens.

Pesticides are often present as contaminants in any product containing rice (extracts, bran, starch, etc.), cottonseed oil or meal, corn, and soy products of any kind, and even oatmeal products. See toxic free alternatives for weed killers and pest control that we use to avoid these chemicals.

7. Triclosan (and Triclocarban) 

In addition to causing skin inflammation and contact dermatitis, triclosan also a known endocrine disruptor, targeting thyroid hormone and reproductive hormones. Studies suggest it can contribute to reproductive cancers, largely through its estrogenic activity.

Antibacterial agents, including triclosan, contribute to resistance—that is, when we kill off 99.9% of the bad guys, the strongest, most resistant 0.1% live on and reproduce, resulting in offspring with super-resistance to our antibacterial chemicals.

All this effort, it seems is for nothing, as no study has demonstrated any benefit to using antibacterial washes, soaps, and hand gels over ordinary soap and water.  In fact, the WHO recommends hand-washing with plain soap and water as the best preventive measure against communicable diseases and pathogens.

The FDA has decided to ban triclosan in hand soap; however, some still contain it, and many other products do as well, so be sure your toothpaste, soap, deodorant, and even gym wear does not contain triclosan or its relatives.

8. Toluene (Toluol, Phenylmethane, Methylbenzene)

Touene is one of the components in nail products that make your eyes burn, but that minor irritation is the least of your worries. Toluene is a known carcinogen, and a heightened risk of cancer is too high a price to pay for pretty nails.  It also targets the central nervous system (to the point of brain damage), can change behavior and impair basic dexterity and memory, and cost you your ability to see color even at “safe” doses!

A pregnant mother who simply breathes the fumes may cause reproductive harm to her baby.  Toluene is derived from petroleum and coal tar and is used to manufacture benzene (another known carcinogen), and in nail polish, nail treatments, hair coloring, and hair bleaching products.

9. Propylene Glycol

Propylene glycol is a penetration enhancer, carrying other potentially harmful ingredients deeper into skin and tissue layers than they would normally penetrate. Propylene glycol has been shown to cause liver cancer, even if it is only inhaled.It is associated with an increased risk of seizures in low birth weight infants. It causes central nervous system depression and acute acidosis.

Propylene glycol has been shown to cause apoptosis, a cell-suicide mechanism, in the central nervous system. And it’s toxicity is not uncommon in body care products and carries a host of severe health consequences.

In addition to the direct risks of propylene glycol, it is a sensitizer, meaning it makes the skin and surrounding tissue more likely to react badly to other substances. Be sure to avoid propylene glycol in sunscreen, moisturizers, lotions, makeup, and hair products.

10. Alkylphenols

These chemicals are often used in surfactants and in plastic manufacture are xenoestrogens that contribute to greater risk of breast cancer.Other studies focus on synthetic alkylphenols as endocrine disruptors due to their hyper-estrogenic activity. Indeed, endocrine disruptors are shown to be carcinogenic and are implicated in many types of cancer.

Remember the BPA scare that resulted in the mass replacement of all things plastic due to its endocrine disrupting, estrogenic, cancer- feeding activity? BPA is just one of the alkylphenols, namely bisphenol A (BPA) which has now been replaced with bisphenol S (BPS) which is just as estrogenic as BPA.

Don’t settle for BPA-free plastics—read labels to ensure any plastic you buy is entirely alkylphenol-free.

11. Sodium Laurel Sulfate / Sodium Laureth Sulfate

SLS and SLES chemicals comprise up to 50% of the volume of approximately 9 out of 10 cleaning and personal care products, so its effects are widespread. It is added as a surfactant that greatly multiplies the foaming action of cleansers, body wash, shampoo, baby products, and hand washes. Sodium lauryl/ laureth sulfate damages skin, eyes, and lungs, and other internal organs.

SLS / SLES is also an environmental toxin, and SLS so reliably causes inflammation that researchers frequently use it to induce acute skin and eye irritation, allowing them to then test the healing efficacy of other substances.

Although SLS and SLES have so far evaded a listing as a known carcinogen by groups such as IARC and the NTP, it’s material safety data sheets openly admit it is mutagenic, meaning it damages DNA such that it can lead to cancer—not exactly the same as carcinogenic (which means it directly causes cancer, but close in that it can indirectly lead to cancer because the cellular damage is so severe.)

The same safety data sheet also indicates a respirator should be worn when handling SLS, it is corrosive to skin, and skin contact should be avoided. There is controversy over the possibility that SLS can form nitrosamines when combined with formaldehyde or 1,4-dioxane to make SLES since nitrosamines are listed as known carcinogens.

12. Sunscreen Chemicals

Sunscreen chemicals have a variety of label names from similar chemical families – you might see benzenes, benzophenone, PABA, avobenzone, homosalate, methoxycinnamate, oxybenzone, octisalate, octocrylene, and octinoxate. What we are seeing is that despite nearly universal use of sunscreens and the presence of sunscreen active ingredients everywhere (including in human urine) malignant melanoma continues to increase.

Since this is the very condition that sunscreens are purported to prevent studies have now been done investigating the role of sunscreen active ingredients in this apparent paradox. Findings show now that these toxic ingredients do actually increase reproductive and developmental toxicity and disturbance of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis.  Numerous researchers have investigated the use of sunscreen and its correlation with the incidence of skin cancer; their findings indicate that some types of sunscreens can increase the risk of cancer. There’s a reason we make our own sunscreen for our family!

The WORST Body Care Products in Your Bathroom

These products contain high levels of dangerous ingredients, contain some of the most harmful carcinogens, or numerous known carcinogens, and offer little benefit in return.

• Nail polish and other nail products are far worse for your health—and your daughter’s—than you may believe. They combine nearly every known carcinogen listed above in one bottle—at minimum toluene, formaldehyde, synthetic color, and many more. Even the 3-free brands (or 5-free, 7-free, etc.) contain numerous seriously harmful ingredients, many of which have long been known to cause cancer. Now, more than ever, it is important to send a message to our young women that they do not need to paint themselves to be beautiful, especially when so much permanent endocrine damage is likely.
• Sunscreen and sunblock—with estrogenic ingredients, preservatives like formaldehyde, BPA or BPS in the bottle, and synthetic color and fragrances, most of the available commercial, chemical sunscreens pose significant risks. Add to that the fact that they may cause the very cancer they are meant to prevent, and it only makes sense to seek non-toxic alternatives.
• Anti-bacterial hand washes, hand sanitizers, and cleansers are among the worst, especially those marketed for use by children. Antibacterial hand sanitizers or soaps generally contain Triclosan or a substitute, SLS/ SLES, phthalates, parabens, and formaldehyde, and are packaged in bottles made of alkylphenols, BPA, or BPS. In addition, there is no evidence of benefit and they are creating dangerous strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, making them something to avoid whenever possible. Try making your own hand sanitizer and healthy hand soap instead!

15 Non-Toxic Ingredients to Try Instead

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of poison all around you, rest assured that there are safe, effective alternatives. The best news is that many natural cleansers are multi-purpose, meaning the castile baby soap you just bought to replace your child’s baby wash and shampoo can also be the main ingredient in your body wash recipe, your shampoo base, and even a main ingredient in your laundry soap, dish soap, counter scrub, and surface cleaner!

1. Castile soap—bars or liquid: replace almost any soap or cleanser with castile soap alone or in recipes—gentle, safe, and effective.
2. Apple cider vinegar: this naturally occurring mild acid is great at cleaning many things and is often used as a clarifying rinse.
3. Baking soda: Safe enough to use as a soak or scrub if diluted.
4. Borax? Yes, borax! Prior to the advent of commercial shampoo, most women washed their hair with eggs or borax solutions.
5. Aloe gel—fresh or bottled: very soothing to skin of all types and ages; aloe gel can replace many lotions and creams, alone or in recipes.
6. Witch hazel: a natural astringent, witch hazel is not as harsh as commercial products with rubbing alcohol, yet still as effective.
7. Avocado: used alone, avocado is a luxurious moisturizing mask.
8. Food grade oils: can be used alone as healing cleansing oils or as carrier oils in recipes to very convincingly replace commercial lotions and creams.
9. Diluted essential oils: essential oils such as lavender, frankincense, chamomile, neroli, rosemary, and oregano can be used for cosmetic or healing properties in conjunction with many natural healing recipes such as our healing skin serum.
10. Flax: soaked in water overnight, flax makes a great natural hair gel, and ground flax is used in scrub recipes.
11. Bentonite/ French clay: historically, clay masks are a top clarifying and detox mask ingredient for glowing skin. It’s also a key ingredient in the homemade tooth cleaner recipe we use.
12. Honey: very healing for the skin and helps promote probiotic activity and reduce acne.
13. Milk: Even if you have a dairy-free diet, has long been prized for its hydroxy acid; used in milk baths—at least since Cleopatra made milk baths a famous beauty treatment.
14. Fruit acids: mashed, blended, or freshly juiced fruits are natural sources of alpha and beta hydroxy acids; try lemon, apple, cream of tartar (from grapes), or strawberries.
15. Cleaner, safer prepared products: Check with the Environmental Working Group or other watchdog group for scorecards on better options when buying body care items from the store to ensure you don’t become the victim of greenwashing (false or misleading claims about natural or green ingredients)! One of the companies we trust is Annemarie Skin Care which uses only the best, non-toxic ingredients in their products. Try some awesome sample kits by Annemarie Skin Care today! Another company we trust is Dream Cream with complexion-rejuvenating lotion.

If this seems like too much information, try to improve just one product each shopping trip. You may feel compelled to get rid of all known carcinogens in your products at once and replace them all today! If you’re convinced, go for it, but don’t become overwhelmed. Every small change helps improve your family’s health.

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