Soni M G, Carabin I G, Burdock G A
Burdock Group, 2001 9th Avenue, Suite 3001, Vero Beach, FL 32960, USA.
Food Chem Toxicol. 2005 Jul;43(7):985-1015. doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2005.01.020.
Parabens are widely used as preservatives in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical products. Acute, subchronic, and chronic studies in rodents indicate that parabens are practically non-toxic. Parabens are rapidly absorbed, metabolized, and excreted. In individuals with normal skin, parabens are, for the most part, non-irritating and non-sensitizing. However, application of compounds containing parabens to damaged or broken skin has resulted in sensitization. Genotoxicity testing of parabens in a variety of in vitro and in vivo studies primarily gave negative results. The paraben structure is not indicative of carcinogenic potential, and experimental studies support these observations. Some animal studies have reported adverse reproductive effects of parabens. In an uterotrophic assay, methyl and butyl paraben administered orally to immature rats were inactive, while subcutaneous administration of butyl paraben produced a weak positive response. The ability of parabens to transactivate the estrogen receptor in vitro increases with alkyl group size. The detection of parabens in a small number of breast tumor tissue samples and adverse reproductive effects of parabens in animals has provoked controversy over the continued use of these substances. However, the possible estrogenic hazard of parabens on the basis of the available studies is equivocal, and fails to consider the metabolism and elimination rates of parabens, which are dose, route, and species dependent. In light of the recent controversy over the estrogenic potential of parabens, conduct of a reproductive toxicity study may be warranted.
对羟基苯甲酸酯类被广泛用作食品、化妆品和药品中的防腐剂。对啮齿动物进行的急性、亚慢性和慢性研究表明，对羟基苯甲酸酯类实际上无毒。对羟基苯甲酸酯类能被迅速吸收、代谢和排泄。在皮肤正常的个体中，对羟基苯甲酸酯类在很大程度上不会引起刺激和过敏。然而，将含有对羟基苯甲酸酯类的化合物涂抹在受损或破裂的皮肤上会导致过敏。在各种体外和体内研究中对对羟基苯甲酸酯类进行的遗传毒性测试主要得出阴性结果。对羟基苯甲酸酯类的结构并不表明其具有致癌潜力，实验研究也支持这些观察结果。一些动物研究报告了对羟基苯甲酸酯类对生殖的不良影响。在一项子宫增重试验中，给未成熟大鼠口服甲基和丁基对羟基苯甲酸酯没有效果，而皮下注射丁基对羟基苯甲酸酯产生了微弱的阳性反应。对羟基苯甲酸酯类在体外激活雌激素受体的能力随烷基大小而增加。在少数乳腺肿瘤组织样本中检测到对羟基苯甲酸酯类以及对羟基苯甲酸酯类在动物中对生殖的不良影响引发了关于继续使用这些物质的争议。然而，根据现有研究，对羟基苯甲酸酯类可能存在的雌激素危害并不明确，而且没有考虑到对羟基苯甲酸酯类的代谢和消除速率，这些速率取决于剂量、给药途径和物种。鉴于最近对对羟基苯甲酸酯类雌激素潜力的争议，进行一项生殖毒性研究可能是必要的。
