Hey you! Yeah, you! You
know that cleanser you just bought that is supposedly sulphate, paraben, phthalate
and who knows what else “free.” Do you even know why you would want your
product “paraben free”? No need for panic my friend, there’s no need to fear
parabens. Parabens are added to your cosmetic products, like your cleanser or
lotion, to prevent the growth of yeasts, molds, and bacteria1. This
makes them preservatives1! Which is a good thing, you don’t want
little critters swimming around in your cleanser.
Parabens easily dissolve in
water2 which is super important because water is almost always
present in cosmetics, and you need your parabens to mingle with water in order
for them to do their job. What’s that? You’re afraid of parabens mingling
inside your body? Hear me out. Yes parabens can be absorbed by your skin2
but that shouldn’t worry you because your body breaks them down into different
chemicals that you simply “excrete” out later3, you know what I
mean. If you’re still worried then listen to this, parabens are made up of the
same chemical that you find in many fruits and vegetables like blueberries and
carrots3. This just means that once parabens enter your body they
are quickly converted into the same chemical seen in fruits and vegetables.
I know word on the block
says that parabens are also bad because they can mess up your hormones but that’s
not completely true. Yes parabens act like the hormone estrogen (at least in
experiments done on rats2), but they aren’t as strong as the natural
estrogen in our bodies, and the natural estrogens found in plants3.
Oh yes and then there’s also that rumor going around that parabens cause cancer4.
Well let me tell you something X cannot cause Y with 100% assurance. What this
does mean is that the measurement of a compound in a sample requires further
studies.
If I haven’t been able to
rid you of your parabenoia then I’m not sure who can. But that’s your choice.
If you are convinced that you don’t want to use parabens in your life here are
some natural alternatives that act as preservatives: salt, clay and talc5.
But just remember everything you use has chemicals and some are just misjudged.
Source: http://primemag.me/go-curls-or-go-home/
(accessed December 4th 2015)
1.O’Connor
S., Spunt A. (2010) No More Dirty Looks: The Truth about Your Beauty Products And
the Ultimate Guide to Safe and Clean Cosmetics. Cambridge, Ma: Da Capo Press.
2. Routledge, E. J., Parker, J., Odum, J.,
Ashby, J., & Sumpter, J. P. (1998). Some alkyl hydroxy benzoate
preservatives (parabens) are estrogenic. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology,
153(1), 12–9. http://doi.org/10.1006/taap.1998.8544
3. Cosmeticsinfo.org. Methylparaben
Information. Accessed November, 21 2015 from http://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/paraben-information
4. Darbre, P. D., Aljarrah, a., Miller, W.
R., Coldham, N. G., Sauer, M. J., & Pope, G. S. (2004). Concentrations of
Parabens in human breast tumours. Journal of Applied Toxicology, 24(1),
5–13. http://doi.org/10.1002/jat.958
5. Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics.
Ingredient: Methylparaben. Accessed November, 21 2015 from https://www.lush.co.uk/methylparaben
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