When Your Lipstick Contains Diabetes

Your makeup and cosmetics may seem to affect only your outward appearance, but they may be increasing your interior risk for diabetes. According to research at Uppsala University in a study published in the journalDiabetes Care, chemicals called phthalates, found in cosmetics, may double your chances of diabetes.

“Although our results need to be confirmed in more studies, they do support the hypothesis that certain environmental chemicals can contribute to the development of diabetes,” says Monica Lind, associate professor of environmental medicine at the Section for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Uppsala University.

When the researchers examined more than 1,000 older women, they found that, as expected, diabetes was more common among those who were overweight and had high blood fats. But the researchers also found a connection between blood levels of some of the phthalates and increased prevalence of diabetes. Individuals with elevated phthalate levels had roughly twice the risk of developing diabetes compared with those with lower levels. They also found that certain phthalates were associated with disrupted insulin production in the pancreas.