All about Parabens

Hi everyone! I hope everything is going well for you guys! I decided to write up a small post about parabens, because I feel like there is some misinformation out there about them. If you have any comments or if you disagree with something I say, please let me know! (: I have all my sources listed at the bottom of the post, please feel free to read them! More after the jump, as always.

What are parabens?

To paraphrase heavily from my sources, parabens are the most widely used preservatives in cosmetics, foods, pharmeceuticals, and other household goods; the most common ones are methylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben. They keep products free of bacteria, mold, and fungi that would otherwise spoil the product, potentially causing an infection. They are found naturally in plants and animals, but can also be manmade.

Why do people avoid them?

This is a possible concern because studies have shown that parabens have weak estrogen-like properties. Estrogen is a female hormone known to cause breast cells (both normal and cancerous) to grow and divide. Some conditions that increase the body's exposure to estrogen (like not having children, late menopause, obesity, etc.) have been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer. As you will see, there is no evidence behind the connection between parabens and breast cancer.

The only other issue I can think of is that some people can have a sensitivity to parabens due to eczema, which can irritate their skin. This is relatively rare, but perfectly legitimate. Most people don't avoid parabens for that though!

Are they actually bad for you?

The original study which started the controvery was found the link between parabens and deodorant, and had a number of important deficiencies in the study design, including:
1) lack of control tissue when measuring concentrations of parabens in breast tumours;
2) blank samples clearly contaminated with parabens;
3) high variability in individual blank values;
4) no study of the general therapeutic history of the tissue donors and no mention of the paraben-containing anti-cancer drugs the patients were using;
5) no study of donors' exposure to consumer products containing parabens;

Other points to consider:
(i) the most frequently occurring paraben was the methyl ester, which is shown to have the lowest estrogenic activity in the in vitro and in vivo estrogenicity studies;
(ii) existing epidemiological data indicate the absence of an association between underarm cosmetics and breast cancer;
(iii) the majority of underarm cosmetics do not contain parabens as preservatives (> 98%)

Additionally, the authors of the study have clearly stated that they did not have the intention to prove such a link.

To quote Australia's Department of Health and Aging, which has some of the most stringent cosmetic regulatory system in the world, "The ‘Opinion on the Safety Evaluation of Parabens’released by the SCCP in 2005 states that, based on acute and chronic toxicity studies in rats, dogs and mice, parabens have been proven to be nontoxic, not carcinogenic, not genotoxic nor co-carcinogenic, and not teratogenic. Parabens rarely sensitize but may provoke a response when applied to eczematous skin. Sensitized patients can often tolerate parabens in cosmetics applied to normal skin, but, understandably, not broken skin."

At this point, paraben free is more of a marketing scheme to sell products to people who haven't done their research. Parabens are a cheap and effective way of keeping your skincare and makeup free of gross bacteria, and I would rather trust science than give into fear-mongering. Everyone is free to make up their own mind about parabens, but I think you should be aware of the facts rather than base your opinion on hearsay and misinformation. Science 4evaaaa !!

Sources:
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_risk/committees/04_sccp/docs/sccp_o_00d.pdf
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/AP-Deo
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/athome/antiperspirants-and-breast-cancer-risk
http://www.nicnas.gov.au/publications/Information_Sheets/General_Information_Sheets/Cosmetics_PDF.pdf
http://www.thefactsabout.co.uk/content.asp?pageid=5&menuname=Parabens&menu=hidden
http://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/productandingredientsafety/selectedcosmeticingredients/ucm128042.htm