Parabens are a class of chemicals widely used as preservatives by cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.  The most common are butylparaben, methylparaben, and propylparaben.  They are found in everything from toothpaste, to shampoo, to skin care products.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in their report “Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in the Environment: Agents of Subtle Change?” reported that parabens displayed estrogenic activity in several tests. This means that these chemicals mimic your body´s own hormones and can have endocrine-disrupting action when they are rubbed into your body or washed down the drain into your drinking water. So…they interfere with your body´s endocrine system: your hypothalamus, your ovaries, your thyroid—virtually every system in your body. The EPA also stated that “continual introduction of these parabens into sewage treatment systems and directly to recreational waters from the skin leads to the question of risk to aquatic organisms.”

A new study of the University of Reading (UR) in the UK has found that, based on tests conducted, nearly every single woman with breast cancer has one or more paraben chemicals in her breast tissue, suggesting a possible link between the chemical and the disease.  In the study, the group found that 99 percent of the breast tissue samples contained at least one type of paraben, while 60 percent contained at least five. And while the presence of parabens in cancer-infected breast tissue does not necessarily imply that the chemicals are responsible for causing the disease, it sure does lend suspicion to the notion that parabens could be a potential culprit.

What you put on your skin….can penetrate into your bloodstream!  Think of a nicotine patch for those who are quitting smoking.  The patch is placed on the skin and it releases nicotine through the skin!  Keep that in mind when you are putting lotions and cremes on your skin! Bottom line…read your labels.  Know what you are using and what it’s doing to your body!