What is driving the development of alternative preservatives?

Here’s an article which claims that paraben-free cosmetics are gaining popularity. They say that it is due to consumer demand but I suspect there are other more significant forces.

1. Fearmonger press releases. Whenever someone writes about awful things in cosmetics, they always cite parabens. But when consumers are asked about them, they don’t even know what a paraben is. The press attention gets the attention of cosmetic marketing departments who ask their formulators to remove parabens.

2. Raw material suppliers. They want to expand their sales and parabens are relatively inexpensive. If they can get formulators to switch to a more expensive cosmetic preservative, that will make more money for them.

I doubt that parabens will ever be completely removed from cosmetics because they are safe & effective. Plus the alternatives haven’t been nearly tested as well. But for now getting parabens out of your formula is something you might have to do.