Will changing my PCPs actually do anything?
You are probably wondering if changing your personal care product routine will actually do anything. How many products really contain parabens? Is it worth the hassle of changing everything over? Studies have shown that by simply changing the type of products used, consumers can reduce the urinary concentrations of parabens.
A study by Harley et al. (2016) examined whether using PCPs free of several toxin chemicals, including parabens, for three days could lower urinary concentrations. They collected urine samples before and after providing participants with alternative products to use. The authors observed a 43.9% decrease in methylparaben and a 45.4% decrease in propylparaben. These results show how easy it is to reduce parabens exposure and how quick of an impact the changes can have.
Similarly, a study by Huang et al. (2021) provided women between the ages of 22-26 years old with PCPs that contained the least amount of parabens. They collected urine samples before, during, and after use of the minimal paraben-containing products. The authors observed a decrease of 68.6-88.3% in the concentration of urinary parabens. Once again, this study shows that simply changing the type of PCP can reduce women’s exposure to the toxic chemical.
Reducing your exposure to parabens is as simple as changing which personal care products you put on your body. It is never too late to make the switch! In our next post, learn about what resources are available to help you check your PCPs for parabens!
References
- Harley KG, Kogut K, Madrigal DS, Cardenas M, Vera IA, Meza-Alfaro G, She J, Gavin Q, Zahedi R, Bradman A, Eskenazi B, Parra KL. (2016). Reducing phthalate, paraben, and phenol exposure from personal care products in adolescent girls: findings from the HERMOSA Intervention Study. Environmental Health Perspectives, 124, 1600–1607. http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510514
- Huang, K., Zhang, X., Wang, B., Wang, X., You, Y., Tang, H., He, J., Xu, S., Zheng, L., Zhou, Y., Mao, Z., & Jing, T. (2021). Accurate assessment of parabens exposure in healthy Chinese female adults: Findings from a multi-pathway exposure assessment coupled with Intervention Study. Environmental Research, 193, 110540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.110540
Week recap
Not all labels mean that a product does not contain parabens. There are three steps to assess if a product is safe: (1) look for “paraben-free” product label (2) check the ingredients list and (3) scan the product using one of the health apps.
Week 3 recap