Parabens are widely used as preservatives in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical products. Acute, subchronic, and chronic studies in rodents indicate that parabens are practically non-toxic. Parabens ...are rapidly absorbed, metabolized, and excreted. In individuals with normal skin, parabens are, for the most part, non-irritating and non-sensitizing. However, application of compounds containing parabens to damaged or broken skin has resulted in sensitization. Genotoxicity testing of parabens in a variety of in vitro and in vivo studies primarily gave negative results. The paraben structure is not indicative of carcinogenic potential, and experimental studies support these observations. Some animal studies have reported adverse reproductive effects of parabens. In an uterotrophic assay, methyl and butyl paraben administered orally to immature rats were inactive, while subcutaneous administration of butyl paraben produced a weak positive response. The ability of parabens to transactivate the estrogen receptor in vitro increases with alkyl group size. The detection of parabens in a small number of breast tumor tissue samples and adverse reproductive effects of parabens in animals has provoked controversy over the continued use of these substances. However, the possible estrogenic hazard of parabens on the basis of the available studies is equivocal, and fails to consider the metabolism and elimination rates of parabens, which are dose, route, and species dependent. In light of the recent controversy over the estrogenic potential of parabens, conduct of a reproductive toxicity study may be warranted.
Preservatives (ingredients which inhibit growth of microorganisms) are used to prolong shelf life of various foods, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products. Parabens are one of the most popular ...preservatives used in the aforementioned products and is currently being used worldwide. Parabens are easily absorbed by the human body. Thus, it is important to discuss about their safety with respect to human physiology. In view of the current literature, which classifies parabens as a group of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), it seems that the precise assessment of their influence on the human endocrine system is particularly important. Disruption of the endocrine homoeostasis might lead to multidirectional implications causing disruption of fitness and functions of the body. Therefore, in this review article, we aimed to summarize the current literature on properties, occurrence, and metabolism of parabens as well as to present recent progress in knowledge about their influence on the human endocrine system.
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•Parabens interfere in the functioning of endocrine organs.•Nuclear receptors of hormones like estrogens are targets of parabens action.•Some of effects in the animal models did not find a confirmation in human studies.•Studies of parabens impact on immunological and nervous systems are needed.
Parabens are a group of substances commonly employed as preservatives, mainly in personal care products, pharmaceuticals and food. Scientific reports concerning their endocrine disrupting potential ...and the possible link with breast cancer raised wide discussion about parabens' impact and safety. This paper provides holistic overview of paraben usage, occurrence in the environment, methods of their degradation and removal from aqueous solution, as well as hazards related to their endocrine disrupting potential and possible involvement in carcinogenesis.
•Parabens (PBs) were ubiquitously detected in the environment.•PBs were found in human urine, serum, milk, placental tissue and breast tumor tissue.•In vivo studies suggest that PBs' impact on the organisms is generally low.•Urinary PBs were correlated with oxidative stress, DNA damage or thyroid hormones.•PBs may be involved in breast cancer development.
•An Al-Mg LDH functionalized graphene oxide was synthesized as an efficient sorbent.•The sorbent packed in a spinal syringe and used for micro solid phase extraction.•The method was applied for ...analysis of parabens in human breast milk by HPLC-UV.•The method shows low LOD, proper linearity and recovery with acceptable precision.
In this study, a magnesium-aluminum layered double hydroxide coated on graphene oxide nanosheets was synthesized. It was successfully applied as an effective medium for determination of the parabens in human breast milk samples using micro solid phase extraction by packed sorbent (in spinal syringe format) followed by HPLC-UV. Effective parameters were optimized by central composite design. Under the optimal conditions, figures of merit of the developed method were obtained in which the limits of detection were found between 3.0 and 5.0 µg L−1. The calibration plots were linear in the range of 10–1000 µg L−1. Intra- and inter-day RSD% (n = 3) at two concentration levels of 25 and 250 µg L−1 varied between 4.2 and 9.5%. The relative recovery values for the spiked breast milk samples were in the acceptable range of 87.2–104.4%. Accordingly, the proposed method exhibits proper sensitivity, good repeatability, and acceptable applicability for the determination of parabens in complex matrices.
Parabens are used as preservatives in personal care and consumer products, food and pharmaceuticals. Their use is controversial because of possible endocrine disrupting properties. In this study, we ...investigated metabolism and urinary excretion of methyl paraben (MeP),
iso
-butyl paraben (
iso
-BuP) and
n
-butyl paraben (
n
-BuP) after oral dosage of deuterium-labeled analogs (10 mg). Each volunteer received one dosage per investigated paraben separately and at least 2 weeks apart. Consecutive urine samples were collected over 48 h. In addition to the parent parabens (free and conjugated) which are already used as biomarkers of internal exposure and the known but non-specific metabolites,
p
-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHBA) and
p
-hydroxyhippuric acid (PHHA), we identified new, oxidized metabolites with hydroxy groups on the alkyl side chain (3OH-
n
-BuP and 2OH-
iso
-BuP) and species with oxidative modifications on the aromatic ring. MeP represented 17.4 % of the dose excreted in urine, while
iso
-BuP represented only 6.8 % and
n
-BuP 5.6 %. Additionally, for
iso
-BuP, about 16 % was excreted as 2OH-
iso
-BuP and for
n
-BuP about 6 % as 3OH-
n
-BuP. Less than 1 % was excreted as ring-hydroxylated metabolites. In all cases, PHHA was identified as the major but non-specific metabolite (57.2–63.8 %). PHBA represented 3.0–7.2 %. For all parabens, the majority of the oral dose captured by the above metabolites was excreted in the first 24 h (80.5–85.3 %). Complementary to the parent parabens excreted in urine, alkyl-chain-oxidized metabolites of the butyl parabens are introduced as valuable and contamination-free biomarkers of exposure.
•Parabens are ubiquitous in aqueous and sludge samples in WWTP.•Octylparaben with longer chain was firstly detected in this study.•Chlorinated parabens are more stable than their parent compounds ...through advance treatment.•The risks of target compounds are negligible at environmentally relevant levels.
In the present study, parabens, p-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHBA) and chlorinated derivatives, were simultaneously determined in wastewater and sludge samples along the whole process in an advanced wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Nine target compounds were detected in this WWTP, and methylparaben and PHBA were the dominant compounds in these samples. It is noteworthy that octylparaben with longer chain was firstly detected in this work. Mass balance results showed that 91.8% of the initial parabens mass loading was lost mainly due to degradation, while the contribution of sorption and output of primary and excess sludge was much less (7.5%), indicating that biodegradation played a significant role in the removal of parabens during the conventional treatment process. Specifically, parabens were mainly degraded in the anaerobic tank, and PHBA could be effectively removed at high rates after the advanced treatment. However, both biodegradation and adsorption accounted for minor contribution to the removal of chlorinated parabens during conventional treatment process, and they were only scantly removed by conventional treatment (33.9–40.7%) and partially removed by advanced treatment (59.2–82.8%). Risk assessment indicated that parabens and their chlorinated derivatives in second and tertiary effluent are not likely to produce biological effects on aquatic ecosystems.
This work describes a new, fast and sensitive method for the simultaneous determination of seven paraben residues including methyl paraben (MPB), ethyl paraben (EPB), propyl paraben (PPB), isopropyl ...paraben (iPPB), butyl paraben (BPB), isobutyl paraben (iBPB) and benzyl paraben (BzPB) in human whole blood, plasma and urine. The analytes were extracted from the biological matrices by an innovative technique, fabric phase sorptive extraction (FPSE) and subsequently analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with photo diode array detector (PDA).
The separation was carried out with a Spherisorb C18 column using methanol and phosphate buffer as mobile phases. Ketoprofen was used as the internal standard (IS). The analytical method has been validated according to the International Guidelines in terms of calibration curves for each biological matrix, precision (intra and inter day), trueness, selectivity, LODs, LOQs and ruggedness. Subsequently, the performance of the analytical method was evaluated on real biological samples.
The proposed innovative method allows simultaneous analysis of seven paraben residues in three different biological matrices, including whole blood, plasma and urine and therefore it is easily applicable to monitor these substances in different biological samples. Furthermore, extraction technique used in this work is fast, easy to use and in accordance with the modern green analytical chemistry (GAC) principles.
•FPSE-HPLC-PDA method for simultaneous analysis of seven parabens in biofluids•Direct analysis of human whole blood, plasma and urine to monitor parabens•FPSE as a sustainable alternative to “dried blood spot card (DBS Card)”•First parabens determination directly in human whole blood
Use of personal care products, such as makeup, soaps, and sunscreen, may expose adolescent girls to potential endocrine disruptors, including phthalates, parabens, and other phenols. We evaluated the ...relationship between recent self-reported personal care product use and concentrations for urinary metabolites of phthalates, parabens, triclosan, and benzophenone-3 (BP-3) in 100 Latina adolescents. Girls who reported using makeup every day vs. rarely/never had higher urinary concentrations of monoethyl phthalate (MEP) (102.2 ng/mL vs. 52.4 ng/mL, P-value: 0.04), methyl paraben (MP) (120.5 ng/mL vs. 13.4 ng/mL, P-value < 0.01), and propyl paraben (PP) (60.4 ng/mL vs. 2.9 ng/mL, P-value < 0.01). Girls who reported recent use of specific makeup products, including foundation, blush, and mascara, had higher urinary concentrations of MEP, mono-n-butyl phthalate (MBP), MP, and PP. Use of Colgate Total toothpaste was associated with 86.7% higher urinary triclosan concentrations. Use of sunscreen was associated with 57.8% higher urinary concentrations of BP-3. Our findings suggest that personal care product use is associated with higher exposure to certain phthalates, parabens, and other phenols in urine. This may be especially relevant in adolescent girls who have high use of personal care products during a period of important reproductive development.
Parabens are preservatives used in a wide range of cosmetic products, including products for children, and some are permitted in foods. However, there is concern for endocrine disrupting effects. ...This paper critically discusses the conclusions of recent reviews and original research papers and provides an overview of studies on toxicokinetics.
After dermal uptake, parabens are hydrolyzed and conjugated and excreted in urine. Despite high total dermal uptake of paraben and metabolites, little intact paraben can be recovered in blood and urine. Paraben metabolites may play a role in the endocrine disruption seen in experimental animals and studies are needed to determine human levels of parabens and metabolites.
Overall, the estrogenic burden of parabens and their metabolites in blood may exceed the action of endogenous estradiol in childhood and the safety margin for propylparaben is very low when comparing worst-case exposure to NOAELs from experimental studies in rats and mice.
•Ordered magnetic mesoporous carbon (MMC) was fabricated by soft-template synthesis.•MMC was employed as an effective adsorbent for the pretreatment of parabens.•Novel MSPE-UHPLC-MS/MS method with ...MMC for paraben analysis in urine and serum.•Developed method was proven to be simple, sensitive, and effective.
Although parabens are useful due to their antiseptic properties, their widespread use has caused concerns regarding their potential toxicological effects. In this study, a novel magnetic solid-phase extraction combined with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (MSPE-UHPLC-MS/MS) was developed, based on ordered magnetic mesoporous carbon (MMC), for paraben analysis. The MMC was prepared by soft-template synthesis, with a unique pore structure and a highly specific surface response, indicating potential as an excellent adsorbent. Several parameters affecting the paraben extraction efficiency were investigated and a novel method for paraben analysis in serum and urine samples using MSPE-UHPLCMS/MS was developed. The concentrations of methylparaben, ethylparaben, isopropylparaben, and propylparaben in these samples were 0.0380–4.36, 0.460–9.65, 0.0118–0.770, and 0.0363–0.641 μg/L, respectively, whereas isobutylparaben and butylparaben were not detected. Furthermore, satisfactory recoveries of 76.4–121% with relative standard deviations (n = 5) of 1.9–8.6% were obtained. Therefore, the developed MSPE-UHPLC-MS/MS method was efficient, highly sensitive, and reliable for analysing parabens in complex biological samples.
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