Parabens – 護膚品裡最常見的防腐劑

個人護理用品成分標籤上的成分多不勝數。很多成分名稱，常令人看了以後也不明所以。其實只要我們細心閱讀並牢記一下，就能認出幾種特別有害的成分，例如在化妝品及護膚品中最常添加的防腐劑 – 苯甲酸酯類(Parabens)。

Parabens目前很受爭議；它是一種很便宜的人工合成防腐劑，因著卓越的抗菌效能而被廣泛用於化妝品、護膚品及食品。經由皮膚吸收並進入人體後，Parabens會干擾內分泌系統裡雌激素的活動，因此被認為可能與乳癌有關。

日本厚生省更將之認定為可能導致過敏的物質。實驗證明，Parabens會滲透角質層，然後被皮膚所吸收。研究估計，成人每天經由日用品累積吸收的Parabens高達17.76克，而兒童為378毫克。目前個別日用品的Parabens濃度大都符合安全性的，但由於它並不會經體內酵素代謝所分解，所以我們需要注意它於身體內的「累積濃度」。因著種種的使用風險，一直有不少人都強烈主張把Parabens列為個人護理用品的禁用成份。

Parabens 家族

Parabens是一個人工合成防腐劑最常見的一大類，那麼我們應如何認出它的家族成員呢？它的家族成員包括：Ethylparaben、methylparaben等，總之我們只要是記住這些名稱後半部’parabens’，就能把它們一一認清。

Parabens- the most commonly found preservative in skin care

There are countless ingredients in the label of personal care products, and most people have no idea what they are.  Actually, if we spend some time to read the label with care and remember a few points, we can identify a number of particularly harmful substances, such as the most commonly found preservative in cosmetics and skincare products- parabens.

Parabens are currently a very controversial group of substance: on the one hand, they are very cheap synthetic preservative that are highly anti-bacterial, and are commonly used in cosmetics, skincare and food; on the other hand, when parabens enter human body after being absorbed by skin, they can affect the estrogen activities in the endocrine system, thus related to a woman's risk for breast cancer. 

The Ministry of Health in Japan listed parabens as substances that may cause allergies.  It was experimentally proven that parabens can penetrate the stratum corneum and be absorbed by skin.  Research estimates that daily intake of parabens through daily commodity can be as high as 17.76g for adults and 378mg for children.  Although the paraben concentration in most daily commodities meets safety requirements, parabens cannot be decomposed by metabolic enzymes, so we must note its cumulative concentration in our body.  Due to the risks involved in using parabens, many advocate a ban on using parabens in personal care products.

The Parabens family

The parabens family is the most commonly used synthetic preservative, with members such as ethylparaben and methylparaben.  We can easily identify the members of this family by remembering the latter part of their name- ‘paraben’.