The Problem With Parabens

Parabens

We have talked about parabens and why they are so dangerous many times in our review posts. Parabens are found in most conventional beauty products and are one of the most toxic ingredients and artificial preservatives in your personal care items. In this post, we will go into detail about what parabens are, what they are used for, and why they are so toxic and harmful to your body.

What Are Parabens?

Parabens are commonly used in beauty products as a preservative to help prevent the growth of harmful bacterial inside the bottle and the product. In fact, it is so common that over 85% of beauty and care products contain parabens. They are used to widely because they are very inexpensive and effective. There is more than just one type of paraben and they can appear on ingredient lists as butylparaben, methylparaben, propylparaben, and more.

Why Parabens Are So Dangerous

The bottom line is parabens are dangerous, toxic, and have many adverse effects on the human body. They need to be avoided at all costs. Parabens have been linked to breast cancer in women. Parabens have the ability to mimic estrogen, the female sex hormone, and consistent use can increase your risk of developing skin cancer. Estrogen, and parabens that can act like estrogen in the body, play a role in stimulating breast cancer cells, which is what leads to the formation of breast cancer. The female body has a hard time breaking down this synthetic hormone. A study in 2004 by the University of Reading in the UK showed that the paraben methylparaben was found in high concentrations in human breast tumors from breast cancer.

Parabens can also affect reproduction in both men and women as well. In men, parabens can decrease healthy sperm production and in women and men both is can cause infertility issues. This is particularly important to note if you are of reproductive age and want to have children in the future. Since parabens are endocrine disruptors, they can also have a massive affect on fetal development as well. Although there needs to be more studies done, parabens are believed to lead to birth defects. This is not just about the ability to have babied, and health babies, either.

The ability for parabens to interfere with birth and reproduction is more than one’s ability to get pregnant. It has to do with the health of the reproduction health of both men and women. Effects to a woman’s uterus, ovaries, etc., and a man’s reproductive organs can have adverse effects on overall health as well, which is something we need to think and worry about in conjunction with heaving healthy pregnancies and children.

Our advice? Choose natural and organic.

This article was last updated on May 6, 2022 .

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