Are Your Toiletries Paraben Free?

Many hotels are switching over to paraben-free toiletries. Shouldn't you?

Parabens are a class of chemicals widely used as preservatives in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. They are put in formulas in small amounts to prevent the growth of disease-causing microbes. Without preservatives, cosmetics would be much more dangerous to use. These compounds, and their salts, are used primarily for their bactericidal and fungicidal properties. They can be found in shampoos, commercial moisturizers, shaving gels, personal lubricants, topical/parenteral pharmaceuticals, spray tanning solution, makeup and toothpaste.

Parebens aren't banned, but there's a growing push to remove them from toiletries due to possible links to certain cancers.

Preservative alarmists may have a point and the industry is constantly on the lookout for new, effective ingredients to replace Parabens. They just haven’t found any. But the risk posed from these ingredients is so small that it’s not worth worrying about. There are much more critical things you can do to avoid cancer like not smoking, avoiding excessive sun exposure, exercising regularly and eating a well-balanced, low fat diet.

Don’t waste your energy fretting about the preservatives in your cosmetics.