Occurrence, biomagnification, and risk assessment of parabens and their metabolites in marine fish: The case study of Vietnam

• Published in: Chemosphere (Oxford) 2023-12, Vol.344, p.140221-140221, Article 140221
• Main Authors: Tran-Lam, Thanh-Thien, Thi Phung, Anh-Tuyet, Thi Pham, Phuong, Quang Bui, Minh, Hai Dao, Yen, Truong Le, Giang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 4-hydroxybenzoic acid; aquatic food webs; bioaccumulation; case studies; coasts; human health; humans; marine fish; metabolites; methylparaben; Paraben; Q-Orbitrap HRMS; QuEChERS; risk assessment; seafood consumption; species; Trichiurus lepturus; Trophic magnification factor; Vietnam
• ISSN: 0045-6535; 1879-1298
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140221

Parabens have emerged as the primary preservative of choice in numerous consumer goods, prompting growing apprehension regarding their potential for human exposure. The study employed the optimized QuEChERs sample extraction method and the UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS system to generate the initial contamination profiles of seven parabens and their four metabolites in a total of 114 fish samples found along the coastline of Vietnam. The findings of the study indicated that methylparaben was the predominant substance detected, exhibiting the highest concentration in the largehead hairtail (Trichiurus lepturus) species at 32.8 ng g−1 dry weight (dw). Additionally, the metabolites with the highest detectable concentrations in the largehead hairtail were found to be 4-HB and 3,4-DHB, with levels of 8822.0 ng g−1 dw and 3490.8 ng g−1 dw, respectively. Besides, the study reveals notable variations in paraben concentrations across three distinct regions in Vietnam, namely the Central, North, and South (Mann-Whitney U test, p