Parabens, bad for you?

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DPTC

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So I have noticed a lot of shaving and grooming products contain parabens in them, up to 3 in most, methylparaben, propylparaben and ethylparaben. They use it to preserve products that will be stored in bathrooms for several months/years.

There's been a lot of controversy in the past and even now about the use of this in products, so much some brands have decided to make 'paraben free' products in their range. Apparently they're a nasty chemical that can damage your skin and give you cancer.

I have 3 products with the parabens in them, are they really bad for you?
 
Paraben is certainly something which has been identified as preferable to NOT include in your products if you are a skincare/shaving product manufacturer, and many nowadays go out of their way to highlight the fact that their products do not contain it.

A quick read up on Google suggests that it is only a recent development to suggest that Parabens have a link to Cancer, and as a result people may choose to avoid products containing it.

I would personally avoid but ultimately it is your choice wheter or not to continue using these lines.
 
What a load of old bollocks!

Does anyone know of anyone who has got cancer from washing their face or hair?

There you go then, crack on.
 
Re: RE: Parabens, bad for you?

joe mcclaine said:
What a load of old bollocks!

Does anyone know of anyone who has got cancer from washing their face or hair?

There you go then, crack on.
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I would tend to agree. If there was genuine, compelling evidence that parabens were carcinogenic then they would be banned pretty quickly. I'm sure if you force-feed a mouse 1/10th it's own body weight of the stuff you would have some effect, but a wee bit in your cosmetics is nothing to worry about.
 
If you watch the news enough, you'll know that everything is linked to cancer. I hear tell that cornflakes are about to get a rough ride soon.

Ask anyone with cancer if they have ever eaten cornflakes. There you go then. QED.
 
Although no direct links between parabens and cancer have been established, I tend to disagree with the logic that they would be banned if in fact they were bad for you. Look at cigarettes for example. It is a proven fact that smoking shortens your life span, yet cigarettes are not banned from sale. Surely more research is necessary to determine the safety of parabens.
 
FrankieG said:
Although no direct links between parabens and cancer have been established, I tend to disagree with the logic that they would be banned if in fact they were bad for you. Look at cigarettes for example. It is a proven fact that smoking shortens your life span, yet cigarettes are not banned from sale. Surely more research is necessary to determine the safety of parabens.
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Smoking is almost a case in point. Smoking has been banned to the extent that it could be without causing riots in the streets. There are very strict controls on tobacco sales to children, on the advertising of tobacco, and on its use in public places. Every packet has massive warning labels. Sales of tobacco have roughly halved since their peak in the 1960s.


The EU has banned 100s of substances of concern from use in personal care products: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:1976L0768:20100301:en:pDF

If there was compelling evidence that parabens were genuinely carcinogenic in the form they are used in they would be strictly controlled within a year, and banned within five.
I would suspect that the plastic tube that your shaving cream comes in is just as likely to give you cancer as the contents.
 
Plastic tube? Ingram comes in man-metal! :D

Parabens don't worry me none - I'd be much more concerned if they were proven to reduce 'tache growth or have harmful effects in that area. If you've got a skin condition or find that parabens and your physog don't get on then dinna use 'em. Simples. Life's gonna kill you before parabens ever do. Whose Ben anyway and why was he in the paras?
 
As mentioned above, several times, if the stuff was genuinely a clas 1 carcinogen it would, probably, be banned quite quickly.

Aspartame is one case in point, many independant studies indicate it is really quite bad for us, yet it continues in widespread use with manufacturer funded counter studies and political lobbying so far ensuring the stuff stays in our food.

Personally I try to eat / drink / use as much additive free stuff as is possible.

What is always worth looking at is the actual data (if you can get it), how many times do you see statements like "product X doubles you chances of getting cancer Y"? If you were to look at how common many of these specific 'scare' cancers are it's usually something like 1 person in 100,000 gets the disease. Not that it makes it any more fun for the 1:100,000, but it puts things into perspective a little when viewed like that.
 
Shower gels are kinda scary, look at the list of ingredients...that and the price that they charge for them, like $6.99 and up for the big brands. Thats as bad as the multi cart blades...I went back to bar soap...I still use the body puffy thingy, but I found it in manly black color.
 
I only use shower gel if its bought as a present otherewise i buy the "simple" soap which a buy in 4 packs for about £1.50, and it lasts ages as i only shower once a week whether i need it or not :rolleyes:
 
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