Read Up on Parabens

some products with parabens

A lot of articles have been coming up about deodorants, parabens and if they cause cancer (READ: TIME and WEBMD). Wikipedia defines parabens "a class of chemicals widely used as preservatives by cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries." A new study on breast cancer shows that parabens are found in 99% of samples from breast cancer tumors. Parabens are found in deodorants, shampoos and moisturizers. This may be being paranoid, but at home, we made a survey of the different products that we use, and found parabens in our lotions--Bath and Body, Victoria's Secret and even the J&J baby lotion. You can also do this by checking the ingredients at the back: methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, isopropylparaben, and isobutylparaben. Now, using these products doesn't automatically mean that you will get cancer, because there aren't enough studies to prove such. However, because my mom already has active cancer cells and we have the genes, we don't want them being triggered. The good news is that there are alternative products that don't have parabens (like the Neutrogena moisturizer), and many deodorants now are paraben-free.