Parabens are effective and one of the cheapest preservatives that are widely used for their bactericidal and fungicidal properties in many products such as shampoos, moisturizers, shaving gels, toothpaste, baby products, washing detergents, foods, drugs and etc…. just to name a few.
Parabens are esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid. The most common parabens used in cosmetic products are methylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben.
In 2004, The Journal of Applied Toxicology published a paper by Dr. Phillipa Darbre et al. titled “Concentrations of Parabens in Human Breast Tumours”. Dr. Darbre is a professor of Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Reading in England.
For the study in question, tissue samples were taken from patients undergoing surgery for breast cancer. The samples were analyzed for the presence of parabens. At least one type of paraben was detected in 19 out of 20 tumors.
The initial study design was to include non-cancerous comparison tissue to determine whether paraben levels were significantly different from those found in the cancerous breast tissue. The authors expected to find no parabens in the non-cancerous tissue.
When they did find parabens, they concluded that their equipment had been contaminated by paraben-containing soaps used in the lab. It is curious to me that they didn’t also question the possibility that the cancerous tissue samples had been contaminated in the same way.
This is a very preliminary study. The sample size was small. There was no information gathered on the patients whatsoever: the stage of their cancers; their ages; lifestyles; their frequency and type of paraben use. There were no (usable) control samples that the cancerous tissue samples could be compared to.
In Dr. Darbre’s own words, “These studies demonstrate that parabens can be found intact in the human breast and this should open the way technically for more detailed information to be obtained on body burdens of parabens and in particular whether body burdens are different in cancer from those in normal tissues.”
In conclusion always read the ingredients listed on the labels and make sure they don’t have Parabens and look for a seal of Certified Organic.
Our products are Certified Organic and are Parabens free.
Watch this video:
Some informative links for Parabens:
1- The US Department of Health and Human Services
3- The Journal of Applied Toxicology
