Are parabens and phenoxyethanol harmful to the human body?

Introduction

Paraben was developed by the United States in the 1920s as a preservative for cosmetics and food. 

Studies have shown that this preservative, which has been used steadily, is harmful to the human body, and it disappears from the market. 

Since then, phenoxyethanol has been in the spotlight, but as research has shown that it is also harmful, many companies started using other preservatives.

But there is no conclusive evidence yet that these are really harmful to the body.

Basic information for each

Parabens

Parabens used in cosmetics are classified into four categories. Methyl paraben, ethyl paraben, propyl paraben, and butyl paraben.

Each EWG is as follows

• Methyl paraben : 4
• Ethylparaben : 3
• Propylparaben : 9
• Butylparaben : 9

Methyl is mainly used in food, and methyl, ethyl, and propyl are used in medicine.

In Korea, up to 0.4% is allowed if these ingredients are used alone, and up to 0.8% is allowed if they are used in combination with several parabens.

Phenoxyethanol

After paraben was recognized as a prohibited ingredient(by the EU), companies began using Phenoxyethanol. 

This ingredient is widely used in cosmetics because it inhibits the reproduction of microorganisms as a preservative, and it also works great with other ingredients.

EWG is rated 4, and this ingredient is available up to 1% in Korea.

How is it bad?

Parabens

In the case of paraben, according to the test results published by the University of Reading, it was confirmed that the concentration of paraben was accumulated in the human body from 99% of tested tissues.

Here's how the test works. A total of 160 breast tissues were collected in 4 areas per subject from the armpit to the sternum for 40 British women aged 37 to 91, and the paraben concentration was measured.

In particular, many were detected in the armpits, which estimated that paraben was absorbed from the cosmetics applied to the face and gathered under the armpits.

The cause is that paraben is quite similar to the female hormone estrogen, which can increase the incidence of breast cancer if absorbed by the human body.

Phenoxyethanol

In the case of phenoxyethanol, the FDA announced the test results. Studies have shown that ingestion can be toxic and harmful to infants, and accidental ingestion can act on the central nervous system, causing depression, diarrhea, and vomiting.

Is it really dangerous?

There is no choice but to be cautious in this regard. This is because it may be affected by the environment or people, and there are no test results that can be clearly proved. However, since there are already perceptions that it is harmful to the body, so on the contrary, I will write from the perspective that this perception also might not be right.

Parabens

First of all, in the case of parabens, some of the experiments conducted in the EU show that they were injected with a high dosage of parabens in experimental mice, and another test exposed parabens at such a high concentration that they are also unreliable.

And studies by the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry molecular biology have shown that estrogen levels exposed to natural environments are higher than those from cosmetics. Moreover, the U.S. FDA still defines parabens as safe(Not prohibited).

Paraben is an ingredient that clearly plays its role as a preservative. 

However, rather than the perception that this paraben protects the product from germs and fungi, it was recognized as a harmful ingredient in the market by focusing only on the relationship with breast cancer.

Phenoxyethanol

Phenoxyethanol is a more unfair case than paraben. When phenoxyethanol was first introduced to the market, it was recognized as a suitable ingredient that was more than a perfect replacement for paraben.

There is resident flora that exists on our skin, which is a bacteria that lives in a specific part of our body and serves to prevent infection of microorganisms that have invaded from the outside. 

Thanks to this resident flora, we can be safe from the penetration of external pathogens.

Usually, when a large amount of preservative is applied, it can affect the resident flora on the skin and cause problems.

However, in the case of phenoxyethanol, most bad pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus aureus, and fungi are suppressed, but they react quite weakly to resident flora.

Moreover, it has been reported that hormones like estrogen have little disturbance.

According to the thesis "Safety review of phenoxyethanol when used as a preservative in cosmetics," only 0.24% showed allergic reactions.

Lastly, if it is dangerous when consumed as announced by FDA, all we have to do is to keep this ingredient from lip or tint products.

The perception that it is already bad has spread so much that phenoxyethanol already feels like a second paraben in the market.

Source

- Image by Silvia from Pixabay