What is Paraben and Why Should You Avoid It?
Paraben is a common preservative that is found is many health and beauty products from shampoo’s to moisturizer and even some toothpastes. It is very effective as a preservative and it is inexpensive to use, which is why many cosmetics companies use it as an ingredient. You can usually tell if one of the products that you currently use contain a paraben because it will be contained in the chemical name somewhere in the ingredient list such as methylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, ethylparaben and so on. Why The Controversy? A recent study was shown that Paraben was found inside the tumors of some women with breast cancer. Now the study was inconclusive whether Paraben actually caused the tumors or not and there are currently further studies being done, but many organic associations have decided it is best to err on the side of caution and avoid the chemical altogether. Another reason that many people are starting to avoid it, is that experiments on animals have shown that it has
