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Urinary Concentrations of Parabens in Chinese Young Adults: Implications for Human Exposure

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Abstract

Parabens are widely used as preservatives in foods, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. However, recent studies have indicated that high and systemic exposure to parabens can be harmful to human health. Although a few studies have reported urinary paraben levels in western countries, studies on paraben exposure in the Chinese population are limited. China is currently a major producer of parabens in the world. In this study, 109 urine samples collected from Chinese young adults (approximately 20 years old) were analyzed for five parabens (methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, butyl-, and benzyl-parabens) by high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Methyl-, propyl-, and ethyl-parabens were the three major paraben analogues found in all (100 %) samples. The concentration of the sum of the five parabens ranged from 0.82 to 728 ng/mL with a geometric mean value of 17.4 ng/mL. Urinary concentration of parabens was 2-fold greater in females than in males. Based on the measured urinary concentrations, daily intake of parabens by the Chinese young adults was estimated and compared with those reported for United States adults. The estimated daily intakes (EDIurine) of parabens were 18.4 and 40.8 μg/kg bw/day for Chinese males and females, respectively, values that were lower than those reported for United States adults (74.7 μg/kg bw/day). Based on the reported concentrations of parabens in foods from China and the United States, the contribution of dietary intake to EDIurine was estimated to be 5.5, 2.6, and 0.42 % for Chinese males, Chinese females, and United States adults, respectively, which indicates the significance of nondietary sources of parabens to human exposures.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by a Grant (Grant No. 1U38EH000464-01) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC (Atlanta, GA)] to Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, where the study was conceived and performed. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, and Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, State University of New York at Albany, Empire State Plaza, P.O. Box 509, Albany, NY, 12210-0509, USA

    Wan-Li Ma, Lei Wang, Ying Guo & Kurunthachalam Kannan

  2. International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances, State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, China

    Wan-Li Ma, Li-Yan Liu, Hong Qi, Ning-Zheng Zhu, Chong-Jing Gao, Yi-Fan Li & Kurunthachalam Kannan

  3. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China

    Lei Wang

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  1. Wan-Li Ma
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  2. Lei Wang
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Correspondence to Kurunthachalam Kannan.

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Ma, WL., Wang, L., Guo, Y. et al. Urinary Concentrations of Parabens in Chinese Young Adults: Implications for Human Exposure. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 65, 611–618 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-013-9924-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-013-9924-2

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