I think a lot of us are familiar with parabens… many personal care products today will proudly label themselves as ‘paraben free’ making it - it seems- easier than ever to avoid parabens.

But then why, I recently asked myself, were my own methyl paraben levels somewhat elevated when I tested for them?

I recently took the Million Marker test…  this is a test that you can do from the comfort of your own home- you collect a urine sample and send it into their lab for analysis.   They can test for the most common phthalates, bisphenols, parabens  & oxybenzone (for a discount use code “ AIDA” for a small discount)

My levels, as I had hoped, confirmed that my low tox lifestyle is paying off: as all toxins came in at very low levels (will share more about these in a later post) .. that is all but  methylparaben which came back at a “MEDIUM compared to the National Averages.” level

I know for a fact that the personal care products I use are paraben free- so I was puzzled trying to figure out… where was I being exposed to methylparaben?

What are parabens?

Parabens are preservatives often used in cosmetics but also in pharmaceuticals, skin creams, foods and beverages.

While studies on parabens in cosmetics and personal care products are many, there are not many studies that have looked at parabens in our food supply.  This, despite the fact that - according to a 2021 EU study-  “ food is considered the main source of parabens exposure in humans”  (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935121008422 )  (The US states that cosmetics is) 

Safety

• Some scientists and health officials feel strongly that parabens, in the low doses allowed in personal care products, are safe and have shown they do not cause harm…

• parabens are not bioaccumulative: so your body can actually rid itself of parabens in about 3 days (that is, if your body is not overburdened by too many toxins)

• however, parabens have been found intact in breast cancer tumors which begs the question: if you are constantly being exposed to approved, low doses of parabens from multiple sources… could they then in fact accumulate and lead to health effects?

• Some parabens (methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, and butylparaben) have been found to be “weakly estrogenic” meaning they could mimic estrogen hormone

• In one Japanese study: propyl paraben decreased sperm counts in young rats at and below the concentrations which the U.S. FDA considers safe for human consumption in food

• A study by researchers at the Harvard suggested that exposure to propyl paraben might be associated with diminished fertility

• in 2006, EU regulators removed propyl paraben from the list of food additives authorized for use in the EU due to concerns of affects on male fertility

• a mice study showed that exposure to butyl paraben resulted in elevated internal levels of estradiol and BPA

• some parabens have been shown to disturb the function of thyroid hormones and potentially playing an important role in fat accumulation (Pereira-Fernandes et al., 2013)

How we can be exposed

There are 2 ways we can be exposed to parabens.

Skin absorption:

• mostly via personal care products (makeup, moisturizers, hair care products, shaving cream etc) .

• Women tend to have significantly higher levels of parabens in their bodies due to their greater use of personal care products.

• Parabens in the US are allowed in personal care products in concentrations up to 0.25%

  Ingestion:

• Parabens are allowed to use in food and food packaging as antimicrobials to prevent food spoilage.

• The most commonly-used parabens in food are methylparaben (food additive E218) and ethylparaben (E214)

• processed foods tend to have higher levels of parabens, including: cereal-based snacks, dried meats, beer, sauces, desserts, soft drinks, jams, pickles, frozen dairy products, processed vegetables and flavoring syrups

• A US study looked at parabens in 8 categories: beverages, dairy products, fats and oils, fish and shellfish, grains, meat, fruits, and vegetables and found the majority (>90%) of food samples contained measurable concentrations of parabens, with no significant differences in paraben concentrations …. so it is fair to say that we might be exposed to low levels of parabens through many foods

• A 2021 study in Spain looked at 585 adolescents (53.4% boys) aged 12–16 years and found: The main contributors to dietary paraben exposure in adolescent boys were eggs (41.9%), canned tuna (46.4%), bakery and baked goods products (57.3%) and pineapple (61.1%). In adolescent girls, the main contributors were apples and pears (35.3%), canned tuna (42.1%), bakery and baked goods products (55.1%) and olives (62.1%).

• The presence of parabens in eggs might be explained by the ingestion of paraben-contaminated feed or soil, which then penetrates into chicken tissue and is subsequently transferred into eggs (Pajurek et al., 2019).

• In food parabens can be listed as: methyl-, ethyl- and propyl p-hydroxybenzoate or with “e” numbers ((food additive E218) ethylparaben (E214)

The good news?

• Parabens dont remain in our body for very long. Our body - when performing optimally and not overwhelmed by a high toxin load- can excrete them-which it usually will do in about 3 days. This could mean: if you are able to isolate the source of exposure and eliminate it their presence in your body can be reduced even eliminated. Reduce enough sources of parabens and in theory if your body is detoxifying correctly you r own body should be able to deal with the (lower) exposure levels) on its own.

• However, The cumulative effect of parabens together with other endocrine disruptors present in food such as bisphenols, heavy metals, pesticides and polybrominated diphenyl ethers could pose a risk to human health. We know that all of these toxins often found in food, which are all endocrine disruptors, act in different ways in low doses than in higher doses and can even act in different ways when exposed to other endocrine disruptors

How to reduce your exposure to parabens

• Cosmetics and personal care products: read ingredient list and avoid parabens.

• Food: a bit harder to identify as sometimes they can be listed as ingredients but in general:

  • Decrease processed foods

  • Read labels: Parabens will show up on packaged food labels as hydroxybenzoic acid or p-hydroxybenzoic acid ester or with “E” food additive numbers\

  • Avoid food that comes in plastic packaging, from where parabens may leach into the food inside

  • Eat a well balanced diet

EWG has recorded this list of foods that contain parabens:

FOODS THAT CONTAIN PROPYL PARABEN:

• Amport Foods Chocolate & Nut Trail Mix

• Archer Farms Gourmet Dessert Cookies

• Arizona Snack Company Canyon Runner II Trail

• Arizona Snack Company Sweet Energy Trail

• Cafe Valley Apple Spice Mini Muffins Apple Spice

• Cafe Valley Banana Nut Mini Muffins

• Cafe Valley Blueberry Mini Muffins

• Cafe Valley Cake Pumpkin Cream Cheese

• Cafe Valley Chocolate Chips Mini Muffins

• Cafe Valley Corn Mini Muffins

• Cafe Valley Lemon Poppyseed Mini Muffins

• Cafe Valley Orange Cranberry Mini Muffins

• Cafe Valley Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins

• Creative Occasions Old Fashioned Carrot Cream Cheese Cake

• Elizabeth’s Naturals Psychedelic Sunday Mix

• Emerald Breakfast On The Go Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Nut & Granola Mix

• Energy Club Fancy Mojo Mix

• Energy Club Nuts N Chocolate Blend

• Entenmann’s Coconut Crunch Donuts

• Essential Everyday Classic Trail Mix

• Island Snacks Fancy Chocolate Mix

• La Banderita White Corn Tortillas

• La Banderita Yellow Corn Tortillas

• Little Debbie Pecan Spinwheels

• Newton's Naturals Get The Munchies Trail Mix

• Nuevo Leon Tortillas

• Oh Yeah! Candies Chocolate Caramel

• Ole Mexican Foods Corn Tortillas

• Patissa Pumpkin Pie Cream Puffs

• Premium Orchard Rainbow Trail Mix

• Private Selection Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

• Quality Club Deluxe Moxxi Mix

• Roundy’s Cranberry Trail Mix

• Roundy’s Pak O Snax

• Sara Lee Cinnamon Rolls

• Sara Lee Honey Glazed Buns

• Setton Farms Hiker’s Trail Mix

• Superior Chocolate Nut Trail Mix

• Superior Mini Chocolate Eclairs

• Sweet P’s Bake Shop Black & White Cookies

• Tropical Corn Tortillas, Traditional Style

• Turano Brat & Sausage Rolls

• Weight Watchers Carrot Crème Cake

• Weight Watchers Chocolate Crème Cake

• Weight Watchers Golden Sponge Cake

• Weight Watchers Lemon Creme Cake

• Weight Watchers Red Velvet Creme Cake

• Weis Cross’n Country

• Weis Milk Chocolate Candies

A Spanish study   found Parabens in these foods:

• chicken burger (“contained remarkably high concentrations of MetPB”)

• frozen chopped onion (“contained remarkably high concentrations of MetPB”)

• eggs, (“contained remarkably high concentrations of MetPB”)

• milk bread with chocolate  (“contained remarkably high concentrations of MetPB”)

• canned tuna in oil  (. The highest concentration of EthPB)

• anchovy stuffed olives (86.9 ng g−1 ), 

• pineapple in plastic packaging

An Albany , New York study found parabens in:

•  pancake syrup (contained the highest levels of methylparaben: flavored syrup)

• muffins, 

• iced tea, 

• pudding 

• turkey roast

Highest levels of propylparabens :

• turkey breasts, yoghurt, turkey roast and apple pie. 

The highest levels of ethylparabens were found in red wine.

SOURCES

sources

https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/Parabens_FactSheet.html

Concentrations of parabens in human breast tumours

https://analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jat.958

Some Alkyl Hydroxy Benzoate Preservatives (Parabens) Are Estrogenic

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0041008X98985441?via%3Dihub

https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/myth-natural-parabens

Effects of propyl paraben on the male reproductive system

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12419695/

Urinary Paraben Concentrations and Ovarian Aging among Women from a Fertility Center

https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/11879222

Butyl paraben and propyl paraben modulate bisphenol A and estradiol concentrations in female and male mice

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0041008X17301424

Occurrence of and Dietary Exposure to Parabens in Foodstuffs from the United States

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es400724s