And why you don’t really want too much of them on your skin.
Much has been said about avoiding skincare products made with parabens. They aren’t good for health, it is said. They can cause higher risks of cancer development, it is said. But rather than living in fear of the unknown, let’s look at precisely what it does on our skin. Let’s look precisely at the chemical reactions that would be occurring if we would be using products that contain parabens.
What is a paraben?
Kathryn St. John, the communications director at the American Chemistry Council, defines parabens as:
“Parabens are derived from a chemical known as para-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHBA) that occurs naturally in many fruits and vegetables, like blueberries and carrots.”
That’s where the odd-sounding name “paraben” comes from. It is derived from para-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHBA). A general chemical structure for PHBA involves a benzene (aromatic) ring (hence the benzoic acid) in its molecular composition.
If we do apply it to our skin as a sunscreen, for instance, we’d be slathering on quite a fair bit of the aromatic ring structures. To be fair, we ought to understand that the cells and proteins on our skin will also contain aromatic amino acids, namely phenylalanine, tryptophan and tyrosine. These amino acids contain benzene ring structures as part of their molecular composition.
What can these parabens do to our skin?
What happens when the sun’s rays shine onto our skin? If we aren’t out in the sun for too long, we’d get a nice tan. However, overexposure can get us sunburnt, and that’s not a very nice feeling indeed.
Unfortunately, though, the ultraviolet rays (UV) from the sun also do something else, and that is photosensitisation. The aromatic rings in the aromatic amino acids and the parabens are sensitive to UV irradiation, and are able to release electrons upon photosensitisation.
I have illustrated in It Only Takes That Tiny Electron To Cause Those Health Problems that our the energy generation process in our body is dependent on the electron transport chain. Any leakage of these electrons out of the chain can result in the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In that article, I mentioned that
However, the electron transport chain can be defective. Some of the electrons may leak out of the chain and react directly with the molecular oxygen molecules to form superoxide radicals, which are a type of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that I have discussed in their contributions to aging (Vanity and Aging As Linked By The Same Chemical, Really.)
These superoxide radicals are highly reactive and can cause damage to other parts of the body, such as in the oxidation of low density lipoproteins (LDL), as I have shown in Now, Seriously, What’s So Tricky About Cholesterol?, or in the perpetual constriction of our arteries, which contributes to hypertension (You Don’t Have To Be Pressured About Hypertension — Or Do You?)
Thankfully, as I have illustrated, our cells do contain endogenous glutathione antioxidant molecules that can help to neutralise these pro-oxidant ROS molecules. However, we do need to be constantly producing them. If there is insufficient glutathione available to neutralise these ROS molecules, the body will enter a state of oxidative stress.
Ditto with the electrons that are released upon photosensitisation. They, too, can result in the formation of ROS. Again, we would be dependent on the endogenous glutathione in our cells the or exogenous antioxidants swimming around in our blood (consumed via our diet) to neutralise these ROS.
Otherwise, in Vanity and Aging As Linked By The Same Chemical, Really, I do explain how these ROS can attack the collagen proteins that provide structural support to our skin and contribute to the development of unwanted wrinkles.
What would happen with long-term overexposure to the sun? We’d get wrinkles more easily. The aging effect becomes more pronounced. More of our cell DNA strands run the risk of getting oxidised, and cancer patients are known to have higher levels of DNA oxidation, as evidenced in this paper — assuming that their autophagy mechanisms are unable to eliminate all the defective cells with oxidised DNA swiftly and efficiently enough (Is Autophagy Good Or Bad For Cancer Treatment?)
Why would women have it worse than men?
Parabens are known to have an estrogen mimicking effect. They can bind to estrogen receptors, and estrogen plays more signalling roles in women than it does in men. They fit into the estrogen receptors and can unlock them to trigger a biological reaction. I do discuss that mechanism in Unlocking The Lock And Key Mechanism That Governs Our Body’s Cellular Functions, but what we need to know here is that too many cooks spoil the broth.
Healthy women produce enough estrogen to unlock just about enough estrogen receptor locks. Parabens help to unlock even more estrogen receptors, and we’d be looking at a flood of estrogenic signalling, much like how an allergic reaction releases an overdose of histamines that flood the histamine receptors and results in the overproduction of mucus — hence parabens are considered to be xenoestrogens, which are:
“foreign” estrogens, substances that are close enough in molecular structure to estrogen that they can bind to estrogen receptor sites with potentially hazardous outcomes.
What do we need to be aware of?
We do need to protect ourselves from harmful UV rays, especially with regards to overexposure. Sunscreen and other topical skin products that can supposedly help to protect against UV irradiation may actually cause more problems with their paraben content. Also, this report indicates that:
Parabens have been safely used for almost 100 years as preservatives in the food, drug and personal care and cosmetic industries.
Parabens (including methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, isopropylparaben, and isobutylparaben) may be used in products such as makeup, moisturizers, and hair care and shaving products. Contrary to some reports, most major brands of deodorants and antiperspirants no longer contain parabens.
Preservatives like parabens may be used in cosmetics to protect against microbial (e.g., bacteria, fungus) growth, both to protect consumers and to maintain product integrity. In the food industry, parabens have been used for more than 50 years as preservatives and anti-microbial agents. Some fruits, such as blueberries, contain parabens as a naturally occurring preservative. Parabens are widely used in confectioneries, cereal-based snacks, dried meats, and much more.
Too many parabens can affect our external and internal bodily functions. As always, we ought to be careful about what we’re putting on our skin and into our digestive systems.
What can be done to protect our skin while avoiding the cumulative effects of too many parabens? Making an informed choice about the use of topical skincare products that are free of parabens is necessary. Also, knowing how to nourish our skin from the inside and out is important, which I have also highlighted in 9 Nutrients That Nourish Our Skin From The Inside And Out.
This article was originally published on Medium.
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