Parabens

[julian0808]

Gents...recently Parabens have come to the fore and several links have claimed certain shaving creams are 'chock full of parabens'. As shaving is what we do every day to make our faces look younger and more presentable, parabens are in the dock accused of everything from premature aging of the skin to decreased sperm count and even impotency.
I have never considered that shaving could be bad for my health but now I am having thoughts about which shaving creams are pareben free and which use a large amount of them. It would seem that tests in breast cancers have found large amounts of them as well as people who have prolonged exposure to them...the more I read, the more I am confused....
To be even more honest, I don't know what the hell they are and by opening a discussion on them maybe we could shed more light on this subject.

 

[TMH478]

Gents...recently Parabens have come to the fore and several links have claimed certain shaving creams are 'chock full of parabens'. As shaving is what we do every day to make our faces look younger and more presentable, parabens are in the dock accused of everything from premature aging of the skin to decreased sperm count and even impotency.
I have never considered that shaving could be bad for my health but now I am having thoughts about which shaving creams are pareben free and which use a large amount of them. It would seem that tests in breast cancers have found large amounts of them as well as people who have prolonged exposure to them...the more I read, the more I am confused....
To be even more honest, I don't know what the hell they are and by opening a discussion on them maybe we could shed more light on this subject.

I would love to know more too! More importantly, which creams are Paraben based?

 

[gull]

I would love to know more too! More importantly, which creams are Paraben based?

Proraso is chalked full of parabens.

There are a lot of products that don't have parabens though. It shouldn't be too hard to stay paraben-free.

 

[PeterC]

I just recently read up on the subject.

Parabens have been used as a preservative in cosmetics and skin care for a long time. Recent research has shown that the most commonly used types of parabens(methylparaben and ethylparaben) are safe to use in cosmetics and skin care. However, propyl- and butylparaben has not yet been tested thoroughly enough to make a secure judgement.

 

[TMH478]

I just recently read up on the subject.

Parabens have been used as a preservative in cosmetics and skin care for a long time. Recent research has shown that the most commonly used types of parabens(methylparaben and ethylparaben) are safe to use in cosmetics and skin care. However, propyl- and butylparaben has not yet been tested thoroughly enough to make a secure judgement.

Hmmmmmm. This is a tad bit more comforting. I wonder which is in Proraso?

 

[BCatl]

It's used as an inexpensive preservative to keep the product shelf stable so it lasts on your shelf and when you it home.

If you take one preservative out, you have to put another one in if you want the product to last.

There was a person on here a few months ago who complained that his all natural product did not last. I think the preservative was grapefruit seed extract. Well, that's the tradeoff you have to make. It will probably cost more and it will probably not last as long.

Speaking just for myself, I am willing to wait to see what the FDA recommends, if anything. I hope they continue to give people a choice.

 

[PeterC]

Proraso seems to contain all four I just mentioned: methyl-, ethyl-, propyl- and butylparaben.

 

[TMH478]

It seems contain all of the four I just mentioned: methyl-, ethyl-, propyl- and butylparaben.

Good point! Thanks! I love this stuff. I hope not to have any bad side effects.

 

[aimsport]

Much easier to preserve soap than cream.

I have switched to soaps for the most part. Creams that I try I try to avoid Parabens and Phenoxyethanol ingredients. But I can not bring myself to stop using Castle Forbes Lime once in a while. CF has multiple Paraben types. There are reports that Methyl Paraben plus sunlight causes measurable DNA damage. CF Lime is my cloudy day cream.

KMF is removing parabens and I'm happy about that, but some companies are replacing Parabens with Phenoxyethanol... which I think may be as bad or worse.

They say Parabens affect your spelling. But I downt thnick that I sea eny evidance of that... so kno werries!

 

[TMH478]

Much easier to preserve soap than cream.

I have switched to soaps for the most part. Creams that I try I try to avoid Parabens and Phenoxyethanol ingredients. But I can not bring myself to stop using Castle Forbes Lime once in a while. CF has multiple Paraben types. There are reports that Methyl Paraben plus sunlight causes measurable DNA damage. CF Lime is my cloudy day cream.

KMF is removing parabens and I'm happy about that, but some companies are replacing Parabens with Phenoxyethanol... which I think may be as bad or worse.

They say Parabens affect your spelling. But I downt thnick that I sea eny evidance of that... so kno werries!

LOL! I love your last sentence. That's hilarious. Hmmmm, no warning labels. That's just fantastic!

 

[BladeDE40]

This topic has surfaced here many times. Parabens have been used in cosmetics for years as preservatives. The recent hype surrounding parabens has been blown out of proportion...parabens are generally safe and there is no conclusive evidence to show otherwise. As with anything a particular part of the population may have a reaction to them.

 

[resj]

Artificial preservatives. I don't see any conclusive evidence it's cancer linked at all under controlled testing, none. Nor it being an increase risk to male/female cancers. Linking parabens to that are both inconclusive/disproven, and different variables of that specific persons lifestyle should be fully analyzed before saying it's that. Just doesn't make sense to say it's that, even if the person used a product with them (everyone has). Being that there's far more potential possibilities out there. It's so easy to point the finger quickly, and I think the "earthy companies" use carefully placed marketing warnings that blow it out of proportion, and make skiddish people goes nuts over parabens. That's why I think some companies are changing ingredients. Hell, natural Grapefruit extract as a preservative actually has traces of parabens in them.

Ok on a large scale now (more than a chock full here) of parabens are substantially less of a risk than naturally occurring chemicals that occur in the body daily from the human diet, products, ect (things that disrupt your endocrine system ).
Chock full of parabens, I really doubt anything has a chock full of parabens. You should only need tiny amounts of preservatives in a shaving cream, ect... I believe parabens are much more consistent in preservation longevity, and that's why they are used instead of some sort of extract or vitamin. Yeah, there's way worse things to use as preservatives.

I mean people that are this freaked out by stuff like this really will blow their mind thinking of what you run into with everyday life, no matter how hard you try not to. Hell, you could just encase yourself in a plastic bubble (like bubble boy), but even plastic can contain endocrine disruptors that could mutate ya. uh oh

 

[Shavely Manden]

Gents...recently Parabens have come to the fore and several links have claimed certain shaving creams are 'chock full of parabens'. As shaving is what we do every day to make our faces look younger and more presentable, parabens are in the dock accused of everything from premature aging of the skin to decreased sperm count and even impotency.
I have never considered that shaving could be bad for my health but now I am having thoughts about which shaving creams are pareben free and which use a large amount of them. It would seem that tests in breast cancers have found large amounts of them as well as people who have prolonged exposure to them...the more I read, the more I am confused....
To be even more honest, I don't know what the hell they are and by opening a discussion on them maybe we could shed more light on this subject.

There've been a lot of threads on this. Basically, parabens are a type of preservative found in many cosmetic & kitchen products that have been found in trace amounts in some breast cancer tumors. Now, the studies linking parbens & cancer are far from conclusive, but it's understandable how some people want to play it safe & minimize their exposure to parabens. Unfortunately, just cutting it out of your shaving cream & aftershave isn't going to cut it...you'd have to replace virtually every soap product you own (shampoo, toothpaste, detergent, bath soap, &c), and probably some non-soap products to boot. And the paraben-free soaps, shampoos, detergents, &c are going to be much more of a hike in price from their normal counterparts than shaving creams are. Going paraben-free is sort of like going vegan-organic...if you really believe in it, it couldn't hurt, but it takes plenty of dedication and a whole lot of time and money.

 

[TMH478]

Wow! Great information! I suppose this is like the Cellular Phone = Cancer debate? No conclusive evidence = GOOD!

 

[mdunn]

this ole' chesnut?!

Feel free to use whatever products you use - but please let us all take a step back and look at this issue before we do anything hasty like stopping using Proraso.


There is no science at all to support the claim that parabens cause cancer.


All these claims seem to come from an article in the 2004 Journal of Applied Toxicology which found parabens in breast cancer tumors.

It did not mention if parabens are in normal non-cancerous tissue (because if they are, then obviously its not a problem)

Indeed, there was no mention at all that the parabans cause, or had any effect on the cancer. The paper simply mentioned their presence. Just because its there, does not mean it had anything to do with the formation of the cancer itself.

There are also arguments on parabens estrogen mimicing capability - firstly, they are known as 'weakly estrogenic', which means that actual estrogen is 10000-100000 times more likely to bind to tissue than paraben - and even though estrogen has been linked to cancer, estrogenic substances such as parabens do not share that relationship, and secondly we must be wary of the difference between correlation and causation. My having a thirst is correlated to my having a glass of water, but is certainly not caused.

Plus, only tiny tiny trace ammounts of shaving cream would enter the bloodstream if any. So even if there is some as yet undiscovered and undocumented weak link here, having a little paraben on a shaving cream that is washed off is not going to be an issue. There is, after all, no such thing as a poison - just a poisonous dose of something.

[/rant]

 

[talibeard]

Because of the (commercial) hype on parabens I started to boycot every product that is stating 'paraben free' on the package.

 

[SRock]

this ole' chesnut?!

Feel free to use whatever products you use - but please let us all take a step back and look at this issue before we do anything hasty like stopping using Proraso.


There is no science at all to support the claim that parabens cause cancer.


All these claims seem to come from an article in the 2004 Journal of Applied Toxicology which found parabens in breast cancer tumors.

It did not mention if parabens are in normal non-cancerous tissue (because if they are, then obviously its not a problem)

Indeed, there was no mention at all that the parabans cause, or had any effect on the cancer. The paper simply mentioned their presence. Just because its there, does not mean it had anything to do with the formation of the cancer itself.

There are also arguments on parabens estrogen mimicing capability - firstly, they are known as 'weakly estrogenic', which means that actual estrogen is 10000-100000 times more likely to bind to tissue than paraben - and even though estrogen has been linked to cancer, estrogenic substances such as parabens do not share that relationship, and secondly we must be wary of the difference between correlation and causation. My having a thirst is correlated to my having a glass of water, but is certainly not caused.

Plus, only tiny tiny trace ammounts of shaving cream would enter the bloodstream if any. So even if there is some as yet undiscovered and undocumented weak link here, having a little paraben on a shaving cream that is washed off is not going to be an issue. There is, after all, no such thing as a poison - just a poisonous dose of something.

[/rant]

Excellent points. Do you happen to have a link to that article, just out of curiosity?

 

[goby]

this ole' chesnut?!

Feel free to use whatever products you use - but please let us all take a step back and look at this issue before we do anything hasty like stopping using Proraso.


There is no science at all to support the claim that parabens cause cancer.


All these claims seem to come from an article in the 2004 Journal of Applied Toxicology which found parabens in breast cancer tumors.

It did not mention if parabens are in normal non-cancerous tissue (because if they are, then obviously its not a problem)

Indeed, there was no mention at all that the parabans cause, or had any effect on the cancer. The paper simply mentioned their presence. Just because its there, does not mean it had anything to do with the formation of the cancer itself.

There are also arguments on parabens estrogen mimicing capability - firstly, they are known as 'weakly estrogenic', which means that actual estrogen is 10000-100000 times more likely to bind to tissue than paraben - and even though estrogen has been linked to cancer, estrogenic substances such as parabens do not share that relationship, and secondly we must be wary of the difference between correlation and causation. My having a thirst is correlated to my having a glass of water, but is certainly not caused.

Plus, only tiny tiny trace ammounts of shaving cream would enter the bloodstream if any. So even if there is some as yet undiscovered and undocumented weak link here, having a little paraben on a shaving cream that is washed off is not going to be an issue. There is, after all, no such thing as a poison - just a poisonous dose of something.

[/rant]

True! And did you know that most cancer victims have brown hair? And most cancer victims have a driver's license?

I'm not worried about it.

BTW, one company (I think it was Nancy Boy, but I'm not sure) said "There is no proof that parabens cause cancer, but since it has become so popular to say 'we're paraben free' we've taken the parabens out."

 

[Bubu]

Yeah I think that this is kinda like every other freak out that is pushed every now and then, kinda like the same thing as some artificial sweetener I think Saccharin. The only way to get cancer from Saccharin was to take about 10 pounds or so daily for an average person. Well I think that I will not worry about these parabens no more.

 

[BCatl]

True! And did you know that most cancer victims have brown hair? And most cancer victims have a driver's license?

I'm not worried about it.

BTW, one company (I think it was Nancy Boy, but I'm not sure) said "There is no proof that parabens cause cancer, but since it has become so popular to say 'we're paraben free' we've taken the parabens out."

+1 Your last sentence says it all. And the customer will have to pay more and the product will probably not last as long at room temperature.