Advocacy

Parabens
People do no often realize how many harmful chemicals there are in products that people use on a daily basis without thinking so. Chemicals can be found in soaps, hair products, bottled water, and cosmetic products. The biggest reason to put these harmful chemicals in products is for preservatives. I feel like most companies are more worried about how many products of theirs are sold, than people’s health. Cosmetic products are used by most women on a daily basis. Teenagers care about their appearance a great amount, and wear all sorts of different products to either cover up blemishes in the skin, or show off their eye color. Paraben is a chemical found in 90% of all cosmetic products. It is a type of preservative that can also be found in shampoos. Before, parabens were placed in toothpaste to inhibit bacterial growth. I feel like girls should start wearing cosmetic products that do not include parabens, because chemicals like that should not be placed on the skin that has a 40% chance of getting into the blood.
Our body misinterprets parabens as estrogen. It is a much weaker mimicker that binds to the cellular estrogen receptor. This causes miscommunication in the endocrine system and can causes severe problems like depression or cancer. Researchers found in 2004 that in 18 out of 20 tumors found for breast cancer had parabens in them. Urine samples of these people who were experimented also showed parabens. This increase of estrogen can cause a decrease in testosterone level. This is harmful for males, due to the lower sperm count in their reproductive system.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a government agency that’s mission is to protect human health and the environment. The EPA is concerned with the amount of paraben usage in different products, especially cosmetics. They are worried that these chemicals can be easily ingested into the body through the pores on our skin, and be in direct contact with our blood. It is known that anything that is soaked through the skin has a 10 times more concentration than anything taken orally.
A common cosmetic product used by mostly every person is lotion. 60% of all lotions contain some type of paraben. This is harmful because people rub the lotions into the skin, giving parabens an easier access to our body. Parabens are very common lotions because they tend to be used for a long period of time. A tube of lotion could easily last a family a whole year. Preservatives are needed in the lotion to keep it from going bad, and keep the nutrition’s still in the lotion.
Companies producing cosmetic products do not realize the harmful chemicals they are placing in their products. Some companies are now learning new ways to make these products more organic and better for the body. Examples of these companies are Sephora, Clinique, and Bare Minerals. These companies have researched and learned new ways to add preservatives and have the same lasting effect. If we begin to use these products, we can reduce our chances of getting breast cancer, or any other disease.