An underarm deodorant - parabens are used in 80-90% of personal care products
Parabens are preservatives. Parabens are so effective and cheap that they are used in as much as 80-90% of commercially sold personal care products and even in food.
Commercial shampoo, conditioner, cosmetics, deodorant, skin cream, lotion, shaving cream, personal lubricant and toothpaste almost always contain paraben. There are several kinds of parabens. You may just see the word paraben, or you may see any of the following:
- methylparaben
- ethylparaben
- propylparaben
- butylparaben
- isobutylparaben
- benzylparaben
Natural parabens can be found in food such as blueberries and cinnamon, but all parabens used in commercial products are synthetic.
Parabens are known to weakly mimic the hormone oestrogen which can affect human reproductive health. The biggest concern comes from the studies that have found parabens in breast cancer cells, and also the fact that more than half of all breast cancer tumours are found in the area closest to the underarm, where women shave and apply deodorants.
Other names for parabens include:
- methyl-parahydroxybenzoic acid
- ethyl-parahydroxybenzoic acid
- propyl-parahydroxybenzoic acid
- butyl-parahydroxybenzoic acid
- benzyl-parahydroxybenzoic acid
- parahydroxybenzoic acid
- parahydroxybenzoate
- p-hydroxybenzoic acid
- p-hydroxybenzoate
Note: Milk Relief Soap™ contains no parabens.
Photo by Kyle Jones
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the education. When will you be making deodorant?
Deodorant? We’ve still got a crystal salt deodorant we got years ago (like, 10+ years) but we don’t use it much at all. If we lived in a hot humid place perhaps we’ll need it more. At the moment we are working on all-natural palm oil free eczema cream that really works.