Health

What Are Parabens? EWG, Nov. 2024.

Parabens are preservatives used in personal care products, food and beverages.
Some parabens can cause health harms, like reproductive problems.
To lower your exposure, check ingredient labels to avoid products with certain parabens.
When you shop for personal care products, food or beverages, you might have spotted “parabens” listed on the ingredient label. What are they, and are they safe?

Parabens are a large group of chemicals used as preservatives to to extend the shelf life of products. Some are naturally occurring, meaning they appear in nature, and others aren’t. While they can be found in food, drink and drugs, they’re mostly used in personal care products.

Preservatives are crucial for protecting products from microorganisms, bacteria, fungi and mold. Along with good manufacturing practices, formulation and product design, paraben preservatives work to ensure the safety of products at every step of production, from manufacturing and shipping to stores and, finally, storage at home.

When applied to skin, parabens are rapidly absorbed – nearly 100 percent absorption in skincare products made with parabens. The chemicals are widely found in people, detected in blood, urine, breast milk, breast tissue and even the placenta, so their presence is well-known and widespread.

Parabens’ potential health harms
Not all parabens carry the same health risks. The specific paraben in the product determines whether it is potentially a risk to health.

Some are endocrine disruptors. Exposure can lead to reproductive harm and harm to organs like the spleen and stomach lining.

Parabens with the greatest potential for causing health problems in people were used in cosmetics in the early 2000s. These include methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, isobutyl and benzyl parabens.

But their use has plummeted in the past decade. For example, only about 5 percent of personal care products now contain propyl paraben, according to EWG’s Skin Deep database, which assesses the safety of more than 115,000 items. Butyl paraben is still found in some makeup products, but its use has also dropped off.

Regulating parabens
The Food and Drug Administration does not require a safety review of chemicals, including parabens, before they enter the market for use in personal care products. The FDA considers parabens safe for cosmetics.

In contrast, the European Union limits paraben concentrations in cosmetic products to less than 0.4 percent for individual paraben chemicals and 0.8 percent for paraben mixtures. It has also set stricter limits for butyl paraben because of concerns about endocrine disruption. And it banned five other parabens from cosmetics altogether...
https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/2024/11/what-are-parabens