Know Your Personal Lube Ingredients

Most lubricant contains something called parabens which you may or may not of heard of before. Parabens are preservatives that are used in many cosmetic products, as well as your lubricant. Methylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparabens are the most commonly used parabens in lubricants. These help stop microbial growth and therefore stop bacterial contamination.

This is a good thing in personal lubricant for instance, but there have been some safety issues related to parabens. The real risk factor associated with parabens is highly debated, but there have been two small studies that have created cause for concern.

One study linked parabens with breast tumors and the second links parabens with skin aging. There is no definite conclusion on these studies since they have been debated vigorously, but the long term side effects of parabens are unknown. They are also known to cause an allergic reaction in some people. If you are aware of an allergic reaction to parabens then you may want to stop using them in your lubricant.

Since it is still very early to say if parabens truly cause skin aging or breast tumors, you may just want to live with the risk. Since at this time they do provide protection from bacteria and the risk has not yet outweighed the benefits.