Panic over parabens

Let us face it. Beauty products are sometimes full of BS and marketing hype. Anti-aging. Breakthrough technology. All-natural. Of course, some claims may actually be true, but are we discerning enough to know which ones are true and not? How do we know we are not paying ridiculous claims worth nothing?

Let's take a look at one of the labels we often see in products nowadays: paraben-free. For those who have no idea what they are: paraben (butylparaben, ethylparaben, methylparaben, propylparaben) is a class of chemicals commonly used as preservatives. Recently, some beauty brands have been pegging this label into their products, implying that parabens are unsafe. But how (un)safe are parabens anyway?


It started from a research in Journal of Applied Toxicology in 2003, where it was found that breast tissue from cancer patients had parabens in them. Another follow-up study was made in 2011 wherein 99% of the breast tissue samples collected from breast cancer patients contained at least one paraben. It was also observed that there were significantly more n-propylparaben in the region closest to the armpit, while the rest of the gang was evenly distributed in the breasts. 

A notable read which somehow is not as mainstream as the paraben-free movement is that the research clearly stated that "the source of the parabens cannot be identified" and that "paraben was measured in the 7/40 patients who reported never having used underarm cosmetics in their lifetime." Also of note is how the study does not conclude correlations of paraben concentrations to the age of patients, length of breastfeeding, tumor location, or tumor oestrogen receptor content.

To be incredibly simplistic about it the research basically says it found parabens in breast tissues and although parabens mimic esterogen (which are known component in breast cancer development), it has not yet been proven that chemical with such mimicking abilities can contribute to cancer. That is very far from the hype saying "parabens can cause cancer". In fact in another study, it was concluded that cosmetics containing parabens, based on the current data available, do not pose a health risk. 

My take on this issue is this: if a product I want to use has paraben in it, I would still consider using  it as there is no evidence that it can cause cancer. If the product has none, then that will be okay as well. But I will never pay premium for a "paraben-free" product on the basis of fear mongering. I mean, if I'll be afraid of this chemical, then I should steer away from products with this:

Grapefruit. All natural. May contain parabens. (Image from wikipedia.org)

Sources:

Barr L, Metaxas G, Harbach CAJ, Savoy LA, Dabre PD. 2011. Measurement of paraben concentrations in human breast tissue at serial locations across the breast from axilla to sternum. Journal of Applied Toxicology 32. doi: 10.1002/jat.1786

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraben

http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/ProductandIngredientSafety/SelectedCosmeticIngredients/ucm128042.htm