Without preservatives, our beauty products would quickly be colonized by all sorts of nasty bacteria, mold and fungi. The most commonly used preservative today is a group of chemicals collectively known as parabens, some of which are found naturally in raspberries, blueberries and blackberries.
Parabens are one of the most commonly used preservatives and certainly the most controversial. Parabens are in almost everything, from toothpaste, deodorant and lotion to food products like mayonnaise and salad dressing. You can tell if a product contains parabens by checking the ingredient list-they usually show up as methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben or butylparaben.
Though they have been considered safe for decades because they are used in extremely low quantities and have very low toxicity levels, in recent years concerns have been raised that parabens could cause allergic reactions, disrupt our hormonal systems and even contribute to breast cancer. The theory is that even though any given product contains extremely small amounts of parabens, over time they may build up to toxic levels because they are found in so many of the products we use each day.
The good news is that parabens are not a significant cause of skin allergies; in fact, many "natural" preservatives, such as Vitamin E, tea tree oil, thyme essential oil, and phenoxyethanol are in fact more likely than parabens to cause an allergic reaction. (If you think you might be allergic to parabens, your dermatologist can find out by doing a simple patch test.) Other natural preservatives include grapefruit extract, bitter orange extract and monolaurin. (I could not find any reports of allergies to these natural ingredients.)
So why are many groups against the use of parabens? Beginning in 2002, a number of studies have explored a possible link between the use of paraben-containing underarm deodorants and breast cancer. Though some found high concentrations of parabens in human breast cancer tumors, there is no conclusive evidence that parabens actually cause cancer and the FDA considers them to be safe. It is unknown if the buildup of parabens in the environment is dangerous, but because parabens have been found to have some estrogenic effects, the buildup of parabens in the environment is concerning.
Certainly estrogen plays a role in breast cancer. This is demonstrated by the fact that the incidence of breast cancer has actually gone down quite a lot lately because fewer women are taking estrogen hormone replacement therapy.
Though I don't feel that a paraben-containing product would hurt your skin, I am not convinced that the widespread use of parabens in products is safe. If you are concerned, as I am, we should encourage companies to develop safe, nonallergenic preservatives so that we have better options. There are plenty of paraben-free products out there, but I must admit that most of my favorite products have parabens. Here are some links I found for paraben-free products.
http://www.gardengirlskincare.com/
http://www.bewellstaywell.com/welcome.htm
Please comment and let me know your thoughts on this controversial subject.
Wishing you great skin!
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Dr. Baumann is author of the best-selling book, " The Skin Type Solution." To learn more about her revolutionary skin typing system, visit her Web site, SkinTypeSolutions.com.
All of Dr. Baumann's recommended skin care products are available online, and a portion of proceeds goes to The Dermatology Foundation.
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