What are they? What are they used for?

Parabens are a group of preservatives that are used in medicines, cosmetics, personal hygiene products as well as in food products.3 They exist in make-up, shampoos, conditioners, cereals, lotions and facial cleansers.3 Parabens prevent the growth of bacteria by destroying the bacteria before it has a chance to spoil these products.3 All products have a shelf life and an expiration date and parabens increase that shelf life while keeping the quality of products and making them safe for us to use.3 Parabens used in these products are all synthesized by reacting an alcohol and an acid to produce water and an ester.5 This process is known as esterification. Some common synthetic parabens include methylparaben, ethylparaben and propylparaben.5 Parabens can also occur naturally in nature such as in fruits and vegetables which include carrots, honey, blueberries and cherries.3 They can also be found naturally in the body as Para-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHBA).5 Once these parabens are consumed they are broken down into this naturally occurring form of paraben PHBA and help break down amino acids in the body.3 They are then excreted out of the body.
Are Parabens Dangerous?

One concern about parabens is that the ones used in personal care products cause cancer. Multiple studies looking mainly at deodorant showed no connection between cancer and the parabens used in deodorant.4 Tests done on animals with relatively high amounts of parabens showed that parabens are non-toxic.4 no harm came to the animals and the parabens were excreted from their bodies.4 The second worry with parabens is that it can affect estrogen/testosterone levels in humans.4Again this study showed no connection between the two and was proven to be safe.4
Why Talk About Parabens?
The makeup, food, personal care products and even the medicine we take contains them! Parabens are derived from para-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHBA). When parabens in other products are absorbed into the body they are converted to PHBA which is a naturally occurring form.3 Most parabens are used in 0.01-0.3% levels but are safe to use up to 25%.3 Sometimes it is better to know more about what you are exposing your body to.
References:
1Ihlendfeldt WD, Bolton EE, Bryant SH. The PubChem chemical structure sketcher. J Cheminform. 2009, Dec, 17., 1(1):20. [Pubmed PMID: 20298522].https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ edit2/index.html.
2Uhr, H. , Mielke, B. , Exner, O. , Payne, K. R. and Hill, E. (2013). Biocides. In Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, (Ed.). doi:10.1002/14356007.a16_563.pub2
3American Chemistry Council. Parabens. https://www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/parabens/ (accessed January 19, 2019)
4Opinion on parabens. (2010). Brussels: European Commission. https://doi.org/10.2772/30176 (accessed January 29,2019)
5Dr I Wrightson, S J Cooper, Dr M Crookes, P Jackson, Dr N King, Dr P Lewis. Et al. Why Do We Worry About Parabens? Environment, health and safety committee. http://www.rsc.org/images/parabens_tcm18-219158.pdf (Accessed January 29, 2019)
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