Determination of Parabens and Their Metabolites in Seminal Plasma from Chinese Men by Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS)
Jing Dai,
Linyuan Zhang,
Jianfeng Xu,
Fangda Peng,
Zhijun Wu,
Longlong Fu,
Ying Guo,
Bing Chang,
Wenhong Lu,
Chunguang Ding
Affiliations
Jing Dai
National Center for Occupational Safety and Health, National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing 102308, China
Linyuan Zhang
National Institute for Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China
Jianfeng Xu
National Research Institute for Family Planning and WHO Collaborating Centre for Research in Human Reproduction, Beijing 100081, China
Fangda Peng
National Center for Occupational Safety and Health, National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing 102308, China
Zhijun Wu
National Institute for Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China
Longlong Fu
National Research Institute for Family Planning and WHO Collaborating Centre for Research in Human Reproduction, Beijing 100081, China
Ying Guo
National Research Institute for Family Planning and WHO Collaborating Centre for Research in Human Reproduction, Beijing 100081, China
Bing Chang
National Institute for Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China
Wenhong Lu
National Research Institute for Family Planning and WHO Collaborating Centre for Research in Human Reproduction, Beijing 100081, China
Chunguang Ding
National Center for Occupational Safety and Health, National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing 102308, China
Parabens are endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that have estrogen-like activities and may cause male reproductive disorders. Here, we developed a method for the simultaneous determination of four parabens (MeP, EtP, n-PrP, n-BuP) and two metabolites (4-HB and 3,4-DHB) in human seminal plasma by UPLC-MS/MS. The method was used to analyze 144 seminal plasma samples from Chinese males. MeP, EtP, n-PrP, and 4-HB were the dominant compounds. MeP, EtP, and n-PrP were significantly correlated to each other. In addition, 4-HB was significantly correlated to MeP, EtP, n-PrP, and 3,4-DHB, respectively. The results provide direct evidence that parabens and their metabolites are widely distributed in the male reproductive system. The study presents the paraben metabolites levels in human seminal plasma for the first time.
