Correlation study of parabens in urine, serum, and seminal plasma of adult men in Beijing, China

The adverse effects of parabens raise concerns about their extensive use as preservatives in consumer products, especially in cosmetics. Until now, their distribution and excretion in humans have attracted little attention. Here, we quantified various agents including, for the first time, methyl-; ethyl-; n-propyl-; n-butyl-, and i-butylparaben (MeP, EtP, PrP, n-BuP, i-BuP); methyl- and ethyl-protocatechuate (OH-MeP and OH-EtP); hydroxybenzoic acid (4-HB); and 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (3,4-DHB) in urine, serum, and seminal plasma samples from 50 healthy Chinese men in Beijing, China. Urine paraben concentrations were 1–2 orders of magnitudes higher than those in serum and seminal plasma. MeP and PrP were predominant and correlated with each other in the urine, serum, and seminal plasma. In urine, we observed a significant correlation between MeP and OH-MeP; EtP and OH-EtP; and 4-HB and 3,4-DHB concentrations. All these results provide new information on parabens as biomarkers for the assessment of exposure. Graphical abstract