Urinary concentrations of four parabens in the U.S. population: NHANES 2005-2006. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Urinary concentrations of four parabens in the U.S. population as almost universally detectable, according to the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
Environ Health Perspect. 2010 May ;118(5):679-85. Epub 2010 Jan 4. PMID: 20056562
Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30341 , USA. [email protected]
BACKGROUND: Parabens are widely used as antimicrobial preservatives in cosmetics, -pharmaceuticals, and food and beverage processing.
OBJECTIVES: We assessed exposure to methyl, ethyl, propyl, and butyl parabens in a representative sample of persons>or= 6 years of age in the U.S. general population from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
METHODS: We analyzed 2,548 urine samples by using online solid-phase extraction coupled to isotope dilution-high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry.
RESULTS: We detected methyl paraben (MP) and propyl paraben (PP) in 99.1% and 92.7% of the samples, respectively. We detected ethyl (42.4%) and butyl (47%) parabens less frequently and at median concentrations at least one order of magnitude lower than MP (63.5 microg/L) and PP (8.7 microg/L). Least-square geometric mean (LSGM) concentrations of MP were significantly higher (p
CONCLUSIONS: The general U.S. population was exposed to several parabens during 2005-2006. Differences in the urinary concentrations of MP and PP by sex and race/ethnicity likely reflect the use of personal care products containing these compounds.