What are Parabens?

Author: Balaji Shankar, Jun 5, 2024

Informational article on Parabens and their potential impact on human health

In this article we will find out about parabens and if they are harmful to us as well as how to avoid them.

What are parabens?

Parabens are synthetic chemical preservatives added in cosmetics, medicines, packaged foods and beverages. Common parabens are methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben. Often more than one paraben is used in a single product.

Why are they added to cosmetics and food?

They are added to increase the shelf-life of cosmetics and food.

Preservatives like parabens may be used in cosmetics to protect against microbial (e.g., bacteria, fungus) growth, both to protect consumers and to maintain product integrity.

Typical food products which contain parabens for preservation, include beer, sauces, desserts, soft drinks, jams, pickles, frozen dairy products, processed vegetables and flavoring syrups.[2]

Is there any research on the safety of paraben usage?

1. In a 2007 study by Jiangang Chen et al, there was evidence that parabens may cause male infertility

"some widely used antimicrobial compounds have anti-androgenic (male infertility) properties and warrant further investigation" - [3]

2. In a 2006 study by S.Teresaka et al. paraben compounds were established to show estrogenic activity [4]. These molecules have been associated with breast tumors [5]

Thus, parabens are being identified as a potential risk to human health. The main sources of human exposure to parabens are the use of pharmaceutical products and cosmetics [6]. It was also found that parabens are everywhere in the environment.

D.Bledzka et al., concluded in their 2014 study [6] that
Parabens (PBs) were ubiquitously detected in the environment.

• PBs were found in human urine, serum, milk, placental tissue and breast tumor tissue.
• In vivo studies suggest that PBs' impact on the organisms is generally low.
• Urinary PBs were correlated with oxidative stress, DNA damage or thyroid hormones
• PBs may be involved in breast cancer development.

What is the FDA stand on parabens?

As usual it is wishy washy on its stand. It says,[7]

“FDA will continue to evaluate new data in this area. If we determine that a health hazard exists, we will advise the industry and the public, and will consider the agency's legal options under the authority of the FD&C Act to protect the health and welfare of consumers.”

How can we avoid parabens?

We can study the ingredients of our food and cosmetic products. We can buy paraben free products and avoid packaged foods as much as possible.

Takeaway

While there is much debate on whether parabens are harmful to us, there is evidence to support that too much parabens can cause breast cancer and male infertility. So it is best to avoid them in our cosmetics.

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References

[1] https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/Parabens_FactSheet.html
[2] https://www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/chemicals/parabens/
[3] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0041008X07001329
[4] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378427405003206
[5] https://analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jat.958
[6] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160412014000579
[7] https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetic-ingredients/parabens-cosmetics#are_parabens_safe