Determination of Intact Parabens in the Human Plasma of Cancer and Non-Cancer Patients Using a Validated Fabric Phase Sorptive Extraction Reversed-Phase Liquid Chromatography Method with UV Detection

Abstract

Parabens have been widely employed as preservatives since the 1920s for extending the shelf life of foodstuffs, medicines, and daily care products. Given the fact that there are some legitimate concerns related to their potential multiple endocrine-disrupting properties, the development of novel bioanalytical methods for their biomonitoring is crucial. In this study, a fabric phase sorptive extraction reversed-phase liquid chromatography method coupled with UV detection (FPSE-HPLC-UV) was developed and validated for the quantitation of seven parabens in human plasma samples. Chromatographic separation of the seven parabens and p-hydroxybenzoic acid was achieved on a semi-micro Spherisorb ODS1 analytical column under isocratic elution using a mobile phase containing 0.1% (v/v) formic acid and 66% 49 mM ammonium formate aqueous solution in acetonitrile at flow rate 0.25 mL min−1 with a 24-min run time for each sample. The method was linear at a concentration range of 20 to 500 ng mL−1 for the seven parabens under study in human plasma samples. The efficiency of the method was proven with the analysis of 20 human plasma samples collected from women subjected to breast cancer surgery and to reconstructive and aesthetic breast surgery. The highest quantitation rates in human plasma samples from cancerous cases were found for methylparaben and isobutylparaben with average plasma concentrations at 77 and 112.5 ng mL−1. The high concentration levels detected agree with previous findings for some of the parabens and emphasize the need for further epidemiological research on the possible health effects of the use of these compounds.

Life Habits, Frequency of Application and Long-Term Exposure to Cosmetic Products Containing Parabens Can Cause Higher Breast Cancer Risk among Women

“…The data obtained in this study via the Questionnaire is available upon request of the respective author. The novel FPSE-based (Fabric-Phase Sorptive Extraction) pretreatment method for the selective extraction of parabens from the breast tissue samples as well as the novel HPLC-DAD methodology were successfully implemented to real cancerous and non-cancerous tissue samples derived from diff erent sub regions of women's breast obtained from diverse individuals [13][14][15].…”

An environment-friendly approach using deep eutectic solvent combined with liquid–liquid microextraction based on solidification of floating organic droplets for simultaneous determination of preservatives in beverages

“…A variety of analytical methods for paraben determination in different matrices have been developed by high-performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC), [9][10][11] gas chromatography (GC), 12,13 HPLC-MS [14][15][16] GC-MS, 17,18 and supercritical uid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (SFC-MS). 19 However, conventional preconcentration approaches are timeconsuming and oen require large volumes of volatile organic solvents, which are detrimental to human health and the environment.…”