In reality these stories are often exaggerated and based upon one person’s opinion in order to create news, rather than being based upon impartial evidence and factual scientific findings. In the majority of cases there are numerous research papers proving that the chemicals in question are actually safe. So, before you make up your mind, we’d like to present you with the facts vs. the fiction surrounding one such supposed ‘dangerous’ ingredient which has been flouted in the press recently - parabens.
What are parabens and what do they do?
Parabens are chemical preservatives added to products in order to prolong their shelf life, keep them stable and free from harmful bacteria. There are four main types of parabens: methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben and butylparaben. Despite the scientific sounding names, some are actually found naturally and provide the same preservative action in nature, for example methylparaben is found in the blueberry shrub where its function is to inhibit the growth of bacteria, fungi and viruses.
Are parabens harmful?
The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) reviewed the safety of parabens, where it was concluded that they are safe for use in cosmetic products at levels up to 25%. Typically parabens are used at much lower levels ranging from just 0.01% to 0.3% in skincare products.
Recently there has been confusion around the safety of parabens, despite the fact that under EU regulation it is passed as safe. This confusion was a result of media coverage on a parabens study which had been taken completely out of context. The media wrongly stated that the study had concluded that parabens were a potential cause of breast cancer, the study did not report this. The mis-quoted study was by Darbre et al. (Journal of Applied Toxicology, 2004), it hypothesised that the oestrogen-like activity of parabens in deodorant could lead to breast cancer. The study was flawed in many ways, the main flaw being that most deodorants’ don’t even contain parabens and so the theory was not proven. Many of the scientific community were embarrassed by the publication of the study; with most dispelling it as ‘bad science’. This is a great example of the kind of influence the media has, despite knowing that we ‘shouldn’t believe everything we read in the papers’ we’re all guilty of believing what they say, sometimes.
What do the experts say about parabens?
Dene Godfrey is an expert in preservation systems, and has written numerous clinical papers about them. He says, “The main reason that some people have questioned the safety of parabens is due to a scientific paper that discovered that some parabens have an extremely weak potential to mimic the human hormone, oestrogen. Oestrogen has been linked to cancer in some studies and the link was made without any fact or evidence whatsoever. Several studies have observed no such effect from methylparaben but an effect was seen with butylparaben. However, the effect was so much weaker than human oestrogen, and the concentration of butylparaben required to produce that effect in the study was so much higher than people could ever come into contact with. In normal daily use of cosmetics any hormonal effect from butylparaben is more than two billion times weaker than oestrogen. To draw parallels between the two is like claiming that a fly is as dangerous as a military tank! There is NO proven link between parabens and cancer and it is extremely unlikely that there is any link to be proven. If I had the slightest concern over the safety of parabens, I would make sure that my 16 year-old daughter never used products containing them. I have no such reservations.”
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