Paraben-The evil additive in personal care products?
Parabens are a type of preservative, first introduced in the 1950s. They're used to prolong shelf life in many health and beauty products by preventing the growth of mold and bacteria within them. A few years ago there was a movement started to remove this common preservative from personal care products. In 2004 a research paper was published titled, “Concentrations of parabens in human breast tumours.” (J Appl Toxicol. 2004 Jan-Feb;24(1):5-13.). It turns out that methylparaben was the highest concentration of parabens found. It has never been proven to be the direct cause of cancer. It is believed that parabens mimic estrogens and too much estrogen can lead to tumor growth in breast and reproductive tissue. Much of the personal care industry took the opportunity to get these preservatives out of their products.
The name “paraben” is derived from the structure of the organic chemical itself. The most common parabens that are found in use are methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben and butylparaben. All these chemicals are in a class called parahydroxybenzoates and they are different by either having either methyl, ethyl, propyl or butyl on the chemical. It’s not important to know what they things as the point is to show where the name paraben comes from.
Any lotion, shampoo, deodorant, etc…that contains water must have some type of preservative to prevent microbes from growing. It’s really nasty to open a jar of hand cream and find a layer of mold and slimy junk, yuck! These products are not shelf stable without some way to prevent microbe growth. Without preservatives, like parabens, a lotion or cream is only stable for a week or two. If stored in a refrigerator it might last a month. If you prefer this then send me a message as I can formulate without a preservative. Just don’t hold me responsible for mold growth in your container of skin cream. It turns out that there is a number of products that have used parabens other than creams and lotions) as a preservative such as toothpaste and beer. It is very likely that we have all been exposed this class of chemical. Although I can drink beer pretty quickly I can’t go through sunscreen that fast. So, we need preservatives. How bad are parabens for us? Let’s look at a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for methylparaben to get an idea what is know about this chemical.
Most scientific literature consistently agrees that parabens do not cause cancer. Some research has suggested that these chemicals could be an endocrine disruptor (cause hormone inbalances), other disagree. So how to decide if these preservatives are harmful or harmless?
Right away, section 1 of the SDS for propylparaben lists several different names. Benzoates are a type of organic chemical called an ester. Esters are known for producing the familiar scent of fruits or cut grass and many other fragrances. Of course, polyester has been used to make fabric and iconic clothing from the ‘70s that is still well preserved today. In section 2 we see that it may irritate the skin, eyes, respiratory and gastrointestinal systems. Further reading reveals there is a lot that is unknown. All the way down in section 11 (Toxicology) it is evident that there is a lot unknow about this chemical. We know the lethal dose (LD50) for mice but that’s about it. I’m not a mouse so this information doesn’t help me. In section 12 (Ecology), it’s evident there isn’t much information about how it reacts in the environment. As Gomer Pyle said, “I cain’t believe it, cain’t believe it, cain’t believe it.”
Ok, let’s review. This type of chemical has been around for 70 years and has been used in everyday products and even the golden elixir of life, beer. We don’t know very much about how this chemical interacts with our body. The SDS clearly has a lot of “may cause…”, “no information available”, “may affect…” in very important areas of human health, like the reproductive system. Toxicity is the real concern here and that trait is best described by a basic principle established over 500 years ago, “The dose makes the poison”. Even water is toxic if consumed at a large enough dose (> 30 ounces/hour). Acute toxicity isn’t the biggest concern here. What about problems caused by long term use? Personal care products are not regulated the same way as food and medicine, certainly not with the same intensity so we will likely not get definitive answers very soon. It is a concern that there is critical information that isn’t present on the SDS and limited studies. Consumers should demand this information be made available and in studies that represent humans. This is especially true for a chemical that has been used in consumer products for so long. This information doesn’t make me feel confident about its safety even though there are some studies that say it is safe. Maybe the next article should talk about alternative preservatives.