As fitting of a BSc (Physics) holder, wikipedia came to mind (lol)
Parabens are a group of chemicals widely used as preservatives in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. One report, now universally discredited by scientists, showed parabens present in breast cancer tissue samples. This study was driven by the belief that parabens in underarm deodorants migrated into the breast tissue, despite the fact that less than 1% of all underarm products contain parabens (they rarely require any preservative due to the nature of these products). No causal link with cancer has ever been proven and so far there is no scientific evidence to support any link with any form of cancer . Parabens were claimed to have been found in 20 samples of breast tumors, see Parabens in breast tumors from the Journal of Applied Toxicology Jan-Feb 2004. It is by no means certain that the parabens were actually present in the tumour tissue as similar concentrations were detected in the blank control samples. The presence of parabens in the blank samples was attributed to "contamination", so it is possible that the parabens detected in the tissue samples were also due to contamination.
Complete article here
Basically, paraben can be adsorped not absorbed. Surface absorption = adsorption if I remember my A level chemistry correctly. Maybe Beng or even Henry can clarify.
Looking at the chemical structure it is basically
1. A benzene ring,
2. An ester group (sweet smelling compound common in perfumes) R-O-C=O where R determines the prefix. If R is CH3 then it will be methylparaben as seen on Gatsby facial washes.
3. On the 4th carbon just a plain looking -OH (essentially, the most fundamental alcohol group, one oxygen & 1 hydrogen atom)
Myth busted!
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