What is on your skin?

If you read the labels of skin care, shampoos, conditioners, lotions, facial items, cleansers, and scrubs, and looking for a natural skincare, you sometimes see "Paraben-Free" on the label but what exactly does mean?

Parabens: are several distinct chemicals with similar chemical makeup. Several show up in personal care and cosmetic products.
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Parabens show up in personal care products that contain significant amounts of water to keep microbes from showing up in the product. There are amounts that have been established that are considered "acceptable levels". Your exposure is greatly increased when you are using more than one product containing parabens.

Parabens show up on labels as: ethylparaben, butylparaben, isobutylparaben, isopropylparaben, methylparaben and propylparaben

Methylparaben and Propylparaben are the most common parabens that show up in personal care products.

Scary fact : Nearly every single person will test positive for Parabens in a urine test. Higher amounts of parabens show up in adolescent/adult females than do males of similar ages.

Parabens are not water soluable (able to dissolve in water). So they can be absorbed into the skin. UGH!! Just think, if you are using more than one product with parabens, you are being exposed continuously, in greater concentrations.

Health concerns resulting from parabens exposure:
Endocrine disruption, cancer development, and reproductive toxicity.

Endocrine disruptors, means their ability to mimic estrogen.
Applying skin care products with parabens (especially methylparabens) can lead to UV-induced damage of skin cells and disruption of cell growth rate.

Reproductive toxicity in reference to the Prop and butyl parabens, reduce sperm production which lead to reduced testosterone levels. These effects are dose dependent. A study fount that maternal exposure to butylparabens during gestation and lactation can alter the developmental organs. Propyl and buytl parabens disrupt male reproductive systems and organs. This is consistent with the estrogenic activity noted above.

Exposure to isobutylparaben during gestation can lead to behavioral and anxiety changes in offspring.

In summary, using products labeled PARABEN-FREE, is a way to avoid exposure to parabens. Natural and organic products have found alternative and effective products to prevent the microbial growth in person care products. Some companies make a preservative-free formula these products may have a shorter shelf life.

Looking for paraben free products or preservative free, is more important than you thought,
and another reason to look for natural organic products.

Stay Fabulous
Emma xoxoxo



Sources:
The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX) August 7, 2014
Darbre PD., et a., Paraben esters: review of recent studies of endocrine toxicity, absorption, esterase and human exposure, and discussion of potential human health risks. Journal of Applied Toxicology, 2008.
Kawaguchi M., et al., Maternal isobutyl-paraben exposure alters anxiety and passive avoidance test performance in adult male rats. Neuroscience Research, vol. 65, no. 2, pp 136-40, 2009.
Ishiwatari S., et al., Effects of methyl paraben on skin keratinocytes. J. Appl. Toxicol, vol 27, pp 1-9, 2007.