Parabens and Beauty: Your Questions Answered

What are Parabens and Why Should I Watch Out for Them?

You’ve seen the words “paraben free” proudly printed on any number of cosmetics labels, and yet many of us are still unaware of why that is a concern. The focus of this article will be to explain to you several important facts on the question, what are parabens:

• What are parabens?
• Why are they bad? Or are they?
• Why are they used in the beauty industry?
• What are the health concerns?
• How to avoid parabens?
• What to look out for on labels? (Some “green” products may still contain them)

To find answers, let’s start with scientific experts and what they say.

What Are Parabens?

The team at Live Science have this to say of parabens: “Parabens are synthetic chemicals that are used as preservatives in a variety of products…[to] give products a longer shelf-life and prevent harmful bacteria and mold from growing in the products, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).”

Around 85% of health and beauty products contain them because they so greatly boost the shelf life of water-containing products. And when thinking of the many ways we introduce bacteria, yeast, mold and other agents into these products, it seems totally logical that they rely on parabens to such a high degree.

They are chemicals that originate from para-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHBA), which is actually a natural compound that can be sourced from foods like carrots or blueberries. The human body also makes it when it breaks down some amino acids. The Live Science team goes on to explain that “parabens that are manufactured for consumables and personal care products are identical to those found in nature. The most common types of parabens are methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, isopropylparaben and isobutylparaben.”

With that, you might be thinking, “Oh! So, they are totally safe to be around?”

In a word: No…at least, not totally. At least, science has not yet figured it all out!

Related: The Truth About Organic Beauty Products

Confusion and Parabens

One beauty website says this about parabens: “You’ll find them listed on thousands of personal care products such as shampoos, mascara, foundations and body lotions. But over the past few years, a debate has been building among scientists, product safety regulators and cosmetic manufacturers about just how harmful these chemicals are for your health.”

They have been vilified to a high degree, with the organizations like the David Suzuki Foundation saying that they include “parabens on their Dirty Dozen list and the European Commission on Endocrine Disruption lists parabens as Category 1 priority substances based on evidence that they interfere with hormone function. Health Canada is currently conducting an assessment of parabens in all uses…”

Many emphasize that it appears in products that are applied topically and absorbed into the blood stream, such as deodorants and lotions, and that parabens should not be used as preservatives in cosmetics of this kind.

Related: Your Guide to Hyaluronic Acid

What Are the Concerns?

As that same website explained, “One Danish study, however, raised concerns. It showed that parabens could be detected in the blood and urine of healthy young male volunteers a few hours after lotions were applied to their skin. The authors concluded that since the chemicals could be absorbed, metabolized and excreted, they could potentially contribute to adverse health effects.”

While they are effective, affordable and hypoallergenic, the problems begin with the level of exposure most modern humans face. Around 90% of all grocery store products have parabens of some kind or another (in addition to their presence in health and beauty products). These have the ability to build up in the bloodstream, and this has been considered a problem. Of particular concern is whether or not they are cancer-causing agents.

Parabens, say the experts, are “thought to be endocrine-disrupting chemicals, also known as hormone-mimicking chemicals,” and it means that our bodies may view parabens in the same manner as hormones. It is why some medical studies have linked the presence of parabens in breast cancer cells.

Thus, the concerns are built around the cumulative effects of it and its ability to concentrate in the body because of the glut of paraben-containing products in the marketplace. So, the answer to that question of are they safe or not is simply: There is a chance they are harmful. And yet, as the beauty experts at StyleCaster have indicated, there is “a chance that they’re harmful…but it hasn’t been proven.

If it Hasn’t Been Proven, Then Why Worry?

Studies just cannot fully demonstrate that ongoing exposure and cumulative impacts add up to an authentic risk. As one report noted, “the furor really took hold in 2004, when a British study showed ‘traces of five parabens in the breast tumors of 19 out of 20 women studied.’ From there, the media ran stories about the possibility parabens, often found in deodorants and anti-perspirants, being linked to breast cancer–even though the study never claimed a causal relationship, and was later found invalid. Even so, many people immediately grew–and have remained–uneasy.

The short answer is no, parabens haven’t been definitively linked to health risks. A 2005 study concluded it’s ‘biologically implausible that parabens could increase the risk of . . . breast cancer.’ But they are known to increase the growth of breast cancer cells, and to mimic estrogen in the body. And a 2017 study suggests parabens might be more dangerous than previously thought–even in small amounts. It’s no surprise, then, that many consumers would rather leave parabens out of their quests for health and beauty.”

The FDA has noted that “no studies have proven a link between parabens and cancer in humans; but many–based on a number of animal and laboratory studies–believe it’s just a matter of time.”

Scientific American reports that “Health advocates are pressuring the FDA to ban parabens in products sold in the U.S.—like the European Union did in 2012—but concerned consumers must take matters into their own hands for now by reading product labels and avoiding products with parabens.”

That advice is quite sound, but it means that consumer demands and consumer responsibilities must change.

Related: A Guide to Using Vitamin C Serums

Shelf Life and Consumer Demands

Of course, this means that we have to be ready and willing to forgo the longer shelf lives that such ingredients usually provide. Unfortunately, it is not yet becoming easier to avoid them.

As one beauty website explained, “avoiding parabens is not as easy as one would hope. Most products don’t provide a ‘Contains Parabens’ disclaimer, so it’s up to the consumer to use a discerning eye when going through a product’s ingredient list.

The bad news is, parabens have been found in products that don’t list them on the label at all,” and this includes some of the “green” products that aim to portray themselves as free of the compounds. To be certain that a product is free of parabens means reading labels and buying only those officially noted as “paraben-free”. You can also buy the alternatives. For example, if you’re “looking to steer clear of products that contain parabens, opt for ones that use ingredients such as ethylhexylglycerin (which is plant-derived) or phenoxyethanol, another alternative to parabens, a naturally derived ether alcohol.”

As the team at Scientific American found, “Many natural and organic cosmetics manufacturers have found effective alternatives to parabens to prevent microbial growth in personal care products…Some companies have created preservative-free products that have shorter shelf lives than conventional products (six months to a year), but if used daily are likely to be used up before they expire.”

You might also find ways to use parabens in moderation, taking the time to find out which items in your home (remember that a high volume of products contain them) will include them, and winnowing down the collection to minimal amounts. The Environmental Working Group has a free online database known as “Skin Deep,” that can help visitors understand which products are truly free of parabens.

How to Avoid Them If You Worry

So, the downside of this discussion is that the debates are still raging. The upside is that we are already seeing a shift in consumer patterns and demands, and we have ways of reducing and even eliminating exposure to parabens in many of our health and beauty products. Below are a few more tips we offer to help you keep your personal care products free of parabens:

• Make Them Yourself – Just like homemade food lets us stay free of junk ingredients, homemade health and beauty products will as well. You will need to find recipes and invest in the tools and ingredients (as well as give the time), but what better way is there of protecting yourself and your household from the risks of parabens than to just make things from whole, safe and trusted ingredients.
• Learn Latin – Now, don’t get us wrong, we don’t mean you should master the ancient language. However, you can do like the botanists and start to build your Latin name and chemical names to be sure of the presence of parabens (done sneakily) through the use of alternative phrasing. As one report said, “Long words are a little bit intimidating, especially when they’re in tiny print on the bottom of a small deodorant stick. But not all long words are bad ones. Aloe barbadensis, for example, is just the Latin name for the highly beneficial aloe leaf plant (good). Methylparaben, however, is a member of the paraben family, and therefore poses health risks (bad).”
• Uncover the Pseudonyms – Ethyl, butyl, methyl, and propyl are not a group of women with pretty names. They are all part of the paraben family even when that term does not appear in their names. So, if you see one of them, just know you are holding a paraben of some form in your hand.

• Please Read Labels – This tip may be the proverbial no brainer, but if you are not reading the ingredients labels on everything you apply to or put in the body, you are running the risks of paraben exposure. Remember, labeling can be tricky, and it is the lists of ingredients that reveal the truth. You are responsible for addressing the fine print!
• Skip the Scents – Yes, we all love to smell good, but did you realize that many fragrances are putting you at risk for chemical exposure. While it is mostly the phthalates that appear here, a single scent may contain up to a dozen or more ingredients that you probably don’t want in or on your body.
• No Plastic – The world is rapidly leaning heavily towards plastic free, and nowhere should you give this more effort than in your personal care products. Plastic leaches its unhealthy agents into your products. Just skip anything in plastic to avoid riskier compounds.
• Find Your People – As one article aptly noted, “Get to know artisan personal care manufacturers. There is a boom in personal care products happening right now that’s pretty amazing. In cities all across the U.S. and around the world, artisan personal care products are popping up—from deodorants and moisturizers to makeup and hair care. Small batch manufacturers are crafting these products by hand with ingredients you probably have in your own kitchen. Why? Because they’re free of harmful ingredients like phthalates and parabens, and they are as effective (if not more so) than conventional products. Yes, it turns out that nature itself is a better aesthetician than scientists.”

Related: CBD Oil Skincare Benefits

This is SO Overwhelming!

It is realistic to feel that avoiding parabens 100% is not really an option? Yes, but when it is the makeup and health and beauty products you apply to your skin once or more daily, it really pays to give it your best effort.

As another beauty expert said, the debate isn’t over and we “might see a swing back to parabens, since [chemists are] halting the use of other preservatives because of the irritations they’re causing… You can’t sell skin- and haircare products without some sort of preservative in them, since its job is to kill bacteria in a product. If a consumer puts on a product with bacteria or mold in it, you could end up getting an infection in your eye, so, it’s like, which evil are you going to choose? Are you going to put on a few tenths of a percent of a preservative on your skin and have an allergic reaction or do you want the possibility of spreading bacteria in your body from a compromised formula?”

Because of that, you’ll want to figure out your best steps, even it means making your own products, if you are concerned that parabens may be bad.

More Great Resources On Parabens:

7 Ways to Avoid Parabens and Phthalates in Personal Care Products

10 Things No One Ever Tells You About: Parabens and Sulfates

What Are Parabens?