Methylparaben
Also: methyl 4-hydroxybenzoate · methyl parahydroxybenzoate · E218
Use caution — weakly estrogenic and detectable in nearly all men's grooming products, contributing to cumulative xenoestrogen load.
Testosterone & hormonal load
Methylparaben is the shortest-chain common paraben and the weakest estrogen mimic in the family. It binds to estrogen receptors in vitro and in animal models, though its potency is roughly 100,000-fold lower than 17β-estradiol. The concern is cumulative exposure from multiple products used daily rather than harm from a single product. Human biomonitoring shows near-universal detection.
Found in.
Two jurisdictions, two different verdicts.
Restricted to 0.4% individually or 0.8% total parabens (Regulation EC 1223/2009, Annex V). Under ongoing review for endocrine disruption.
Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) as a preservative in food. No concentration limits in cosmetics.
The receipts.
- [01]Routledge et al. 1998 — Some alkyl hydroxy benzoate preservatives are estrogenic (PubMed)pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9875295/
- [02]EU SCCS Opinion on Parabens (2013)ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/consumer_safety/docs/sccs_o_132.pdf
- [03]Ye et al. 2006 — Parabens as urinary biomarkers of exposure in humans (PubMed)pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17185273/
Find Methylparaben before it finds you.
Point the camera at any barcode. Mangood reads the ingredient list and tells you, in one tap, whether Methylparaben is hiding in the bottle in your hand.