Parabens... and Cancer. WHAT?!

Following yesterday's post about facials, I put together the Parabens post as promised. I must say it left me feeling quite startled... 

Parabens are a class of chemicals that are commonly used in products by cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies. They are synthetically added to prevent microbial growth in the product, which leads to abominable changes. In conjunction with their low cost, this explains their widespread use.

Common products containing parabens are: makeup, economic moisturisers, shaving gels, spray tanners, shampoos and toothpaste. Parabens are listed amongst the ingredients as 'something-paraben', such as propylparaben, methylparaben... to mention a few.

What is of interest is that, recently, they have become a topic of controversy due to being associated with cancer. I was of the idea that they only caused adverse reactions in people with sensitive skin, so needless to say, I was shocked to find this. I'm not going to go into boring, medical details on here and I will link the articles at the end of this post. However, in a 2004 research, parabens were found in breast cancer tumors, and research is still under scrutiny to find whether there is a direct causal link.

Although breast cancer is unrelated to yesterday's post, I found this controversy shocking enough to continue reading. Parabens displayed the strength to mimic estrogen, a hormone known to increase the risk of breast cancer. According to Philippa Darbre, leader of the 2004 research, the parabens in tumors came from something that was applied directly to the skin, such as underarm roll-on, cream or body spray. In fact, only part of the tumor is located in the breast, the rest extends to the underarm.

Moving on to parabens in facial skincare, I must say I was quite disappointed with the limited amount of information provided online. Mostly it just tells you that they are unsafe to use, and lead to breakouts, blemishes... On the contrary, the predominant cosmetic industry is putting forward that they are safe. Not surprised at all. They still need to sell their products, after all.

Big, cheap brands have a sizable, varied supply and to an extent it is understandable that they don't use expensive ingredients for their products. From what I can understand, the reason why certain cheap brands work on certain people but not on others is because the effects of parabens remain dormant. On the other hand, in people with sensitive, acne-prone and problematic skin, parabens cause hormones to go haywire.

I don't know about you, but after this I strengthened my views on organic products and skincare. To a certain extent, knowing that products are being produced from natural ingredients puts my mind at rest. With today's expanding beauty industry, it's not a hassle to find 'cleaner' alternatives.

Related links:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2085585/Parabens-Chemical-everyday-items-needs-investigation-scientists-discover-tumours-ALL-breast-cancer-patients.html

http://safecosmetics.org/article.php?id=291

http://www.realsimple.com/beauty-fashion/skincare/worry-about-parabens-00000000028428/index.html