The Paraben Panic: From Public Outcry to Public Harm by Andrea Love

Andrea Love argues that the "paraben panic" began with a deeply flawed 2004 study and was amplified by media sensationalism, chemophobia, and low science literacy—despite decades of robust evidence showing that parabens are safe, weakly biologically active preservatives used at minuscule levels. Read this article and find accompanying references at: skepticalinquirer.org/2026/02/the-paraben-panic-from-public-outcry-to-public-harm/ About the Author: Dr. Andrea Love is an immunologist and microbiologist with over a decade of experience in basic sciences, translational medicine, and clinical research. She is a subject-matter expert in infectious disease immunology, cancer immunology, and autoimmunity and is adept at translating complex scientific data and topics for the public and healthcare providers. She works full-time in life science biotechnology in the fields of vaccinology, immunology, immunotherapy, cancer, cell and gene therapy, and other related fields. While she will always be a biomedical scientist, she has a passion for helping the public understand complex science topics in order to navigate the world better. She is also the author of Immunologic, a newsletter and science information hub that communicates evidence-based information on science and health topics. Andrea is also the Executive Director of the American Lyme Disease Foundation, and was the 2023 American Medical Writers Association McGovern Award Recipient. She is passionate about scientific literacy starting from an early age and encouraging children toward a career in STEM. Outside of her career in science and efforts in science communication, she lives near Philly with her partner and their 7 rescue cats. She is a marathoner and ultramarathoner, a yogi, a black belt in judo, and an amateur wildlife photographer.  Subscribe to Skeptical Inquirer: https://skepticalinquirer.org/subscribe/