[Paracelsus] Study: Antiseptic agent in cosmetics ages skin cells in ultraviolet rays (fwd)

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Subject: [Paracelsus] Study: Antiseptic agent in cosmetics ages skin cells in

ultraviolet rays

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200508250266.html

Study: Antiseptic agent in cosmetics ages skin cells in ultraviolet rays

08/25/2005

The Asahi Shimbun

Methylparaben, an antiseptic agent widely used in cosmetics such as

foundation, advances the aging process in skin cells when exposed to

ultraviolet rays, causing wrinkles and liver spots, researchers said.

Methylparaben is the most commonly used antiseptic agent for cosmetics.

It is included in powders, lotion and skin milk for its high

anti-bacterial effects and mild stimulation of the skin.

The agent, ironically, is also used in products intended to reduce the

skin's exposure to ultraviolet rays.

" I think women should avoid strong and direct sunshine when wearing

cosmetics containing methylparaben, " said professor Toshikazu Yoshikawa,

who headed the team of researchers at the Kyoto Prefectural University

of Medicine.

Yoshikawa's team conducted the research to determine any side effects

from normal use of the agent, which has been deemed safe under

government standards.

The researchers added methylparaben to skin cells in a density similar

to that used in cosmetics.

The skin cells absorbed the methylparaben and were then exposed to about

30 milijoules per square centimeter of ultraviolet rays, about the

average daily amount on a summer day.

About 19 percent of the methylparaben-added skin cells died, while the

fatality rate for cells with no methylparaben was only about 6 percent,

Yoshikawa said.

The amount of lipid peroxide--the driving force behind the aging

process--in the methylparaben-added cells was almost three times the

total in the untreated cells.Lipid peroxide is generated inside oxidized

cells when exposed to ultraviolet rays. Yoshikawa said the findings

confirm that methylparaben, when exposed to ultraviolet rays, advances

the aging process in skin cells.

Yoshikawa and the other researchers will discuss the results of their

studies at an international conference in Italy in September.

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