Are Parabens Dangerous

There’s been a lot written about the alleged dangers of Parabens in skin care products and I’m happy to tell you that I don’t believe they’re dangerous. And, the FDA has looked at the subject three times in the past twenty years and each time, and as recently as five years ago, they’ve concluded that Parabens in cosmetic skin care products are not dangerous to consumers. Let’s look at the facts. Parabens really are preservatives and as a matter of fact they’re the most common preservative used in cosmetic skin care products. There are three types: methylparaben, butylparaben and propylparaben. Why are preservatives in skin care products? They’re there to prevent the growth of bacteria, fungi and other germs in the products so those products then don’t infect us. Where’s the controversy? In fact, Parabens have very weak, small estrogenic activity and we do know the estrogen activity can be related to certain breast tumors. The reality though is, that the estrogenic effect of Parabens is between 10,000 fold and 100,000 fold less than natural estrogens like Estrogel, and when Parabens are put in skin care products, they’re on a very small concentration somewhere between a hundredth of one percent and three tenths of a percent. So this is the bottom line: there is very, very little Paraben in any cosmetic skin care product and of that very little amount of Paraben, incredibly small amounts, if any, are absorbed into the skin, and if they are absorbed, they have incredibly weak estrogenic power or activity. So I’m happy to reassure you, that I believe, that Parabens in skin care products are safe.