In the United States, 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society, and many of them are unwittingly making a serious choice every time they apply sunscreen: Should they expose their skin to the sun or their mammary cells to a potentially cancer-causing chemical?

Research led by Michigan State University researchers in the College of Natural Science is the first of its kind to show that the common sunscreen ingredient benzophenone-3, also known as oxybenzone or BP-3, can play a role in the development of mammary gland tumors.

The five-year study, funded by the Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program housed in the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences and the National Cancer Institute, was recently published in Oncotarget.

Read more about the study on the College Natural Science website.