Parabens are commonly used as a preservative in cosmetic products like shaving cream, shampoo and makeup to keep bacteria from forming. Parabens have been used in cosmetics for a number of years, and the most commonly used varieties are methylparaben, propylparaben and butylparaben.
The Food and Drug Administration regulates all ingredients in cosmetics and has found that parabens exist in most cosmetic products within a very small range (0.01 to 0.3 percent). The FDA has determined that at this amount parabens did not represent a risk to consumers.
Recent studies have discovered parabens in breast tumors due to the chemicals’ ability to behave in a fashion similar to estrogen. Despite this, the studies have not demonstrated a link between parabens and breast cancer. At this time, the FDA has not issued any warnings about parabens being in products.
Text by Noel Kirkpatrick

(Photo by omaniblog/Flickr)

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