BACKGROUND Parabens appear frequently as antimicrobial preservatives in cosmetic products, in pharmaceuticals, and in food and beverage processing. In vivo and in vitro studies have revealed weak estrogenic activity of some parabens. Widespread use has raised concerns about the potential human health risks associated with paraben exposure. OBJECTIVES Assessing human exposure to parabens usual...

Parabens, methyl, ethyl, propyl, benzyl, and butyl, are the most common preservatives in use today. They are the alkyl esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid and are used extensively because they are relatively nonirritating and nontoxic and offer good antimicrobial coverage. Testing for paraben allergen can be done by patch testing. Two cases of allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) to parabens are used ...

This study investigated the reaction kinetics and degradation mechanism of parabens (methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben and butylparaben) during ozonation. Experiments were performed at pH 2, 6 and 12 to determine the rate constants for the reaction of protonated, undissociated and dissociated paraben with ozone. The rate constants for the reaction of ozone with dissociated parabens (3....

AIM Excipients are used to overcome the chemical, physical and microbiological challenges posed by developing formulated medicines. Both methyl and propyl paraben are commonly used in pediatric liquid formulations. There is no data on systemic exposure to parabens in neonates. The European Study of Neonatal Exposure to Excipients project has investigated this. Results & methodology: DBS samplin...

As scientists seek to characterize human exposures to chemicals, they need more valid, accurate biomarkers—telltale molecular signatures that indicate a particular exposure has occurred. A team from the CDC has now provided the field with a new biomarker that could help researchers document exposures to a class of antimicrobial preservatives called parabens [EHP 114:1843–1846; Ye et al.]. Parab...

Parabens are widely used preservatives in basic necessities such as cosmetic and pharmaceutical products. In previous studies, xenoestrogenic actions of parabens were reported in an immature rat model and a rat pituitary cell line (GH3 cells). The relationship between parabens and ovarian failure has not been described. In the present study, the influence of parabens on ovarian folliculogenesis...

This issue of Journal of Applied Toxicology publishes the paper Concentrations of Parabens in Human Breast Tumours by Darbre et al. (2004), which reports that esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid (parabens) can be detected in samples of tissue from human breast tumours. Breast tumour samples were supplied from 20 patients, in collaboration with the Edinburgh Breast Unit Research Group, and analysed ...

Parabens (alkyl esters of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid) are widely used as preservatives in drugs, cosmetic products, and foodstuffs. Safety concerns have recently increased due to the potential health risks associated to exposure to large amounts of these substances. Biotransformation of parabens mainly includes hydrolysis of the ester bond and glucuronidation reactions. The hydrolysis and glucuronid...

The alkyl esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid (parabens), which are used as preservatives in consumer products, possess oestrogenic activity and have been measured in human breast tissue. This has raised concerns for a potential involvement in the development of human breast cancer. In this paper, we have investigated the extent to which proliferation of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells can be incre...

Parabens, alkyl esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid, including methyl paraben (MP), ethyl paraben (EP), propyl paraben (PP) and butyl paraben (BP), have been widely used as antimicrobial agents. Recently, parabens in cosmetic products have received keen attention, because the elevated amounts of parabens in topical products have been shown to induce allergic contact dermatitis to cancer. The potent...