Determination of seven parabens in surface water samples by UHPLC-MS/MS and solid-phase extraction

Parabens are considered one of the ideal preservatives in numerous consumer products due to their high antimicrobial properties. Nevertheless, parabens have the following potentially detrimental effects on human health such as adverse effects on male reproductive system, or accelerated skin aging process and breast cancer. Here, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled with a triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (MS/MS) combined with a solid-phase extraction procedure was optimized for measuring seven parabens in surface water and proposed as a modified analytical method. The optimized protocol was validated according to the requirements of European standard SANTE/12682/2019. The limits of detection and quantification of the method obtained were 0.04 and 0.82 ng L-1, respectively. The validated method was applied to analyzing surface water samples collected in Hanoi, Vietnam, indicating not only the presence of seven targeted parabens but also the prevalence of methylparaben in all water samples.