Background
Parabens are chemical substances used as preservatives for their antibacterial and antifungal properties in many personal care products, and sometimes in pharmaceutical and food products. Concerns for adverse human health effects arise from animal studies showing endocrine disrupting effects, such as changes in the timing of puberty and alterations in reproductive hormone activity. Our objective was to examine the association between urinary concentrations of parabens and serum concentrations of estradiol, progesterone, follicle stimulating hormone [FSH], and luteinizing hormone [LH]) in girls from the general population.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional study in girls ages 6–17 years, using data from the Canadian Health Measures Survey (2014–2015). The association between concentrations of creatinine-standardized urinary parabens and serum hormone concentrations was analyzed with multivariable linear regressions, adjusting for potential confounders (i.e., age, body mass index, ethnicity, household income, sampling season; prenatal exposure to cigarette smoke for girls 6–11 years).
Results
The 382 girls and teens included in the study had a mean age of 11.0 years; 76% were white and 73% had a body mass index in the range normal/underweight. Most participants (92%) had least one paraben detected in their urine. Girls with higher urinary paraben concentrations had significantly lower serum concentrations of estradiol, LH, and FSH, but not of progesterone. A doubling in the sum of urinary parabens was associated with 5.8% lower estradiol (95% CI -9.3, -2.1), 4.2% lower FSH (95% CI -7.9, -0.3), and 10.8% lower LH (95% CI -17.4, -3.7). The analysis of individual compounds showed that all four parabens were similarly associated with lower concentrations of estradiol, FSH, and LH. We further analyzed younger girls (6–11 years) and found that urinary parabens were similarly associated with lower estradiol and LH (doubling in the sum of parabens associated with 5.9% lower estradiol [95% CI -10.5, -1.0] and 10.9% lower LH [95% CI -20.2, -0.6]). In this younger subgroup, the association estimate for FSH, however, was attenuated and no longer statistically significant.
Discussion
We observed that exposure to parabens was associated with reduced concentrations of circulating reproductive hormones, suggesting that these chemicals could alter the development and function of the endocrine system in girls. Further prospective research using long-term assessment of parabens exposure and of reproductive development may better determine endocrine disrupting effects of parabens.