Soy and Cancer ????

[Robyn64]

Hi there,

I have been a candlemaker since 1995. I tried soy about 1 year ago and wasnt a big fan of it.

But here in Australia in our sunday newspaper today across the headlines it says " SOY CANCER WARNING". This is obviously to do with soy in our food and drink products, but am also wondering if the what is given off from lighting a soy candle would be the same ?

According to the article it says ........ Drs find link to prostate and breast cancer" , soy they have discovered can accelerate the growth of tumours. The Cancer Coucil has never has never supported the use of soy because of the risk of feeding cancers.

There is an ingredient in soy that they have linked to aggravating cancer conditions. if this is the case, what is in soy wax ? , can it be the same as just lighting these candles ?

Thanks,

Robyn

[Scented]

Any link to these articles available?

[StephD]

http://www.news.com.au/sundaytelegraph/story/0,,21054484-5001021,00.html

I only found this link when I googled it. It seems as though it's just soy that is being consumed, so I don't know what effect burning a soy candle would cause, if any.

Stephanie

[Holly]

Hi Scented,

I just ran a search and found this article. http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/news/ng.asp?n=62986-soy-cancer-solae This is not what I would like to hear at this time. My mom's best friend just passed away this morning from cancer --esophagus and stomach cancer. I was recently thinking about how bad it may be for candlemakers to be breathing FO fumes. I especially worry when I make candles in the fall and winter when I have to run the heater and not have windows open wide. I was not concerned about soy but the FO fumes does concern me. I have not really read over this article but will. I would think that it would be more of a direct consumption of soy if there is anything to be concerned about it.

I try to wear my chemical mask when I can but it sure is uncomfortable so I don't where it often enough. Scented, do you wear a mask?

[Scented]

http://www.news.com.au/sundaytelegraph/story/0,,21054484-5001021,00.html

I only found this link when I googled it. It seems as though it's just soy that is being consumed, so I don't know what effect burning a soy candle would cause, if any.

Stephanie

Well I think that's why she's asking. I know I can research this too lol. I appreciate the links though!

Holly, no I don't. But I'm not bothered by fumes. If it gets bad the ventilation kicks in.

[Holly]

P.S. And to think that my kids were on soy milk as infants if there is any worry in this.

[StephD]

Sorry! lol I found more links but nothing stating anything other than soy consumption.

Stephanie

[Robyn64]

Stephanie,

Thanks for that link. Was trying to locate the cancer council site of NSw as they are supposed to be issuing guidelines today.

Although this is consumption of food and drinks , it really does make me wonder what a soy candle can do, as it is basically soy too.

It is a very tricky thing when it comes to ones health and what is good and what isnt. I have heard many things about petroleum based, paraffin candles and now this. I just wonder how are we really to know ???

I have the article from the paper here if anybody wants a copy , but that link Stephanie supplied is the exact same story.

Weird thing is , I looked up " soy & cancer " and there is current sites out there stating to have high soy based diets to combat cancer. I had precancer cells removed, so one lot of experts tel lyou one thing and another just finds scientific evidence and tells you to avoid it.

What does a person do , its ridiculous. I have my telly on too and it just did headlines for the new later about avoiding soy products.

Thanks,

Robyn :-)

[Holly]

Well I think that's why she's asking. I know I can research this too lol. I appreciate the links though!

Holly, no I don't. But I'm not bothered by fumes. If it gets bad the ventilation kicks in.

Fumes do not bother me either, but I worry that it may not be good for a person. I think I have been more worried lately because of my mom's friend being ill with cancer and so many that I hear of all the time. When you say, "the ventilation kicks in", what do you mean? I am in the shop which is a room within a BIG shop. During the winter especially, there is no way I can open a window to the outside. I have a wall heater that I have to have on to stay warm and for my candles to set up the best they can in this weather. I try to keep the heat to the minimum. When I am pouring a lot, I get concern of an overkill of fumes even though it does not bother me.

[Scented]

Well pass those on, please. I have a friend who loves soy products and he's freaking right now. I keep telling him to google so I can get inventory done.

[Holly]

P.S. I keep the windows open a crack that faces inside the big part of the shop so I get some air circulation and there is a loft up above me where the fumes can rise away from me and then out into the big part of the shop.

[Scented]

Fumes do not bother me either, but I worry that it may not be good for a person. I think I have been more worried lately because of my mom's friend being ill with cancer and so many that I hear of all the time. When you say, "the ventilation kicks in", what do you mean?

I'm sorry about your mom's friend.

My ventilation is a series of fans that get it out of my work space. I have a mask, but it fogs my glasses, so I use it sparingly and I use the fans more and more.

[Holly]

I am not too worried about the soy thing. Common sense kinda tells me that a high fat diet and a high beef diet (not that I am against beef -- I eat it) would be a culprit, if not more of a culprit than soy. I have heard too that eating soy lessons the chance of cancer compared to a high fat and beef diet. It seems like everything can cause cancer these days.

[Holly]

Fumes do not bother me either, but I worry that it may not be good for a person. I think I have been more worried lately because of my mom's friend being ill with cancer and so many that I hear of all the time. When you say, "the ventilation kicks in", what do you mean?

I'm sorry about your mom's friend.

My ventilation is a series of fans that get it out of my work space. I have a mask, but it fogs my glasses, so I use it sparingly and I use the fans more and more.

Thanks Scented. It is a sad thing but at least she is no longer suffering.

I wonder what I could do to ventilate my area better in the winter. If I use fans it would just move the fumes around. The thing is the big shop has a gas heater that we keep on 45 so I cannot open those windows (too much) and the door which face inside the big part of the shop. I have a wall heater I use and if I keep the door and windows open all my warm air would escape and I would pay an arm and a leg for electricity. Maybe my husband can put in a ventilator in the wall that sucks it out. I will ask him and maybe he can do this before next winter.

[Robyn64]

Holly,

Am sorry to hear about your mums friend. It can be confusing as to what is good for you and not.

It is very hard to determine whether to continue with any soy products or not. A lot of sites do say its a protection against cancer, but sometimes they can discover things that say different.

Have a good day,

Robyn :-)

[logcabinmomma]

The increased risk of cancer is due to the amount of plant estrogen in soy. If you replace a big part of your diet with ingested soy (tofu burgers, soy protein shakes, etc), you raise the levels of estrogen in your body. Increased estrogen over time leads to development of certain cancers. Normal intake of naturally occuring soy is fine. There are people who are chosing not to use soy based formulas for infants based on suppositions that it could cause high levels of estrogen in babies. The hormone replacement therapy for women that was discouraged due to a possible cancer link was determined to be bad because of the estrogen therapy aspect. While it may not CAUSE cancer, it can cause estrogen linked cancers to grow faster.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=8018

None of this applies to inhaling soy wax fumes. Only to ingested soy enhanced or soy based products.

IMO, I'd be more concerned about fragrance oil components- and I'm a FO junkie.

-Kristi

[StephD]

Yeah, I don't know about these studies these days. It seems one day something's good for you and then the next day it's not. I guess I'll just keep reading the updates on that and see where it goes.

Stephanie

[warmvanilla]

Try researching phytoestrogen for more info on soy as well.

It will explain the plant more and why some believe consuming it can cause cancer.

edited to say:

or isoflavones

[Holly]

The increased risk of cancer is due to the amount of plant estrogen in soy. If you replace a big part of your diet with ingested soy (tofu burgers, soy protein shakes, etc), you raise the levels of estrogen in your body. Increased estrogen over time leads to development of certain cancers. Normal intake of naturally occuring soy is fine. There are people who are chosing not to use soy based formulas for infants based on suppositions that it could cause high levels of estrogen in babies. The hormone replacement therapy for women that was discouraged due to a possible cancer link was determined to be bad because of the estrogen therapy aspect.

None of this applies to inhaling soy wax fumes. Only to ingested soy enhanced or soy based products.

IMO, I'd be more concerned about fragrance oil components- and I'm a FO junkie.

-Kristi

Hi Kristi,

Your post makes a lot of sense. Where you stated that you worry more about FO fumes.....I agree with you on this. This does concern me.

My kids were fed soy formula. They are 10 and 8 now and so far so good. And here I was thinking I was doing them a favor. :undecided

[Holly]

Holly,

Am sorry to hear about your mums friend. It can be confusing as to what is good for you and not.

It is very hard to determine whether to continue with any soy products or not. A lot of sites do say its a protection against cancer, but sometimes they can discover things that say different.

Have a good day,

Robyn :-)

Thanks Robyn. Thanks for posting this thread too. It does not hurt to research this out. I am not really concerned about the soy in candles at this point since it is not eaten, but I sure do worry about the FO fumes. When I do worry I find myself thinking, "Well it could not be any worse than what my husband has to breath working on cars as a technician." I think I will look into better ventilation in my shop before next winter.

Have a nice rest of the weekend.

~Holly

[logcabinmomma]

Hi Kristi,

Your post makes a lot of sense. Where you stated that you worry more about FO fumes.....I agree with you on this. This does concern me.

My kids were fed soy formula. They are 10 and 8 now and so far so good. And here I was thinking I was doing them a favor. :undecided

Some say that the reason that Asian populations do NOT have high rates of breast cancers and other hormone affected cancers is because they ingest their higher rates of soy from early childhood and infancy. Somehow, that causes them to not be affected the same as we would when we suddenly start eating large amounts of plant estrogens. Go figure. In that case though, soy baby formula would be fine. My worries with soy formulas are based on increased estrogen leading to premature sexual development in girls and wondering what affect all that estrogen has on boys.... wondering how long this topic stays in the wax forums lol...

And as far as ventilation goes- look into having a range hood exhaust fan mounted in the shop- you can usually find working ones cheap or free and it really does work. I have an extra full kitchen in my basement that I cook my candles in, and it has a range hood that does and awesome job.

-Kristi

part midwife, part mommy, part chandler ... all crazy:grin2:

[Holly]

Some say that the reason that Asian populations do NOT have high rates of breast cancers and other hormone affected cancers is because they ingest their higher rates of soy from early childhood and infancy. Somehow, that causes them to not be affected the same as we would when we suddenly start eating large amounts of plant estrogens. Go figure. In that case though, soy baby formula would be fine. My worries with soy formulas are based on increased estrogen leading to premature sexual development in girls and wondering what affect all that estrogen has on boys.... wondering how long this topic stays in the wax forums lol...

And as far as ventilation goes- look into having a range hood exhaust fan mounted in the shop- you can usually find working ones cheap or free and it really does work. I have an extra full kitchen in my basement that I cook my candles in, and it has a range hood that does and awesome job.

-Kristi

part midwife, part mommy, part chandler ... all crazy:grin2:

Thanks Kristi for the info. I appreciate it. That appears to be good news. I believe I was fed soy formula too, and I did not have any early sexual development.

I don't have a stove in the shop, but I am definitely going to have my husband put in some sort of ventilation outake. Thanks again for the info and tips!

[shine]

I am a RN. I have NOT researched this topic yet reguarding soy and candles. But what I know about soy is that for estrogen related cancers, consuming soy may increase your risk for cancer (especially if you have a strong family history for breast CA) but conversley there are many positive heath benefits from soy too. If you go to a health food store there are many products that contain soy and for infants with milk allegies soy based formulas are often recommended. IMO I don't think there is a concern for soy candles causing or increasing a person's risk for cancer. If I find any good research on this topic I'll pass it on. BTW my best friend died of breast CA last November. Cancer sucks

Shine

[soycrazy]

This debate about soy has been going on for so long, I'm beginning to think they don't know. I just hope they are not going by animal studies, most of the soy studies were done on rats and people don't understand when they do these studies whatever they are testing they give them 100x more of what they would eat in a lifetime. To me that is a negative result. Plus it's very common for rats esp females to get mammary tumors, I've had many many rats and I have some now with mammary tumors & they don't get much soy.

[shine]

Did a little research on the web. The last bit of info I came across was from the National Candle Association, "When a candle burns, the wax is drawn into the wick, where it is 'consumed' by the candle flame to produce water vapor and carbon dioxide. The only difference with a scented candle is that a small amount of fragrance is released as well." From their statement the only products that are released into the air are water and CO2 which are not toxic or harmful to your health.

Here are some benefits of eating soy: It is a healthier alternative to meat, lowers cholesterol and blood pressure, helps reduce the risk of heart disease and may help decrease the risk of breast, prostate, colon and lung cancers. "Over 90% of soy consumption is likely to be a health benefit to Americans," says William Helferich, PhD., Associate professor of nutrition in The University of Illinois Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition.

The controversy of soy's benefits verses risks lie here:Soy contains several photochemicals called isofavones, plant estrogens or phytoestrogens which act like weak forms of estrogen. These weak forms of estrogen may block cells from using other forms of estrogen which could result in a DECREASE of cancer growth (For certain breast cancer that are fueled by estrogen).Other researchers suggest this estragenic activity could cause these estrogen fueled cancers to grow faster. This is the controversy that links the consumption of soy to cancer.

For the breast cancer survivor, current research suggests neither specific benefits or harmful effects when soy is consumed in moderate amounts (3 servings per day). But higher doses of soy may have estrogen like effects, and higher levels of estrogen clearly increase the risk for progression of some breast cancers. For breast cancer survivors it is recommended that they avoid high doses of soy that are found in concentrated forms such as soy powder and isoflavone supplements.

My motto is "everything in moderation." It is still IMO that burning soy candles is safe and eating whole soy products in moderate amounts is safe and beneficial to your health.

Sorry for being so long winded. HTH. I haven't worked clinically as a nurse since I had my 3 year old. I guess I kind of miss it but staying at home making candles proves to be a lot of fun:yay:(Research from NCA, www.cancer.org, American Cancer Society)