Preliminary safety risk assessment of parabens in children's cosmetics sold in China.

Since adverse health outcomes of parabens added in children's cosmetics have been reported, it is important to investigate preliminary risk characteristic assessment of parabens preservatives in children's cosmetics. This study aimed to calculate exposure parameters using a combination experimental data and an exposure assessment tool to make safety assessment for parabens in children's cosmetics. The paraben concentration of different formulation types of 63 products of children's cosmetic products were measured by High Performance Liquid Chromatography. Based on product usage, paraben concentrations, exposure factors, behavioral patterns and exposure routes, the exposure parameters of parabens in children's cosmetics were calculated by mathematical mode from ConsExpo Web. A margin of safety (MoS) was calculated for safety evaluations. Results showed that 4-hydroxybenzoate methyl (MP) was the most commonly used paraben, which was used in 30.2 % of products, followed by propyl 4-hydroxybenzoate (PP) (12.7 %), ethyl 4-hydroxybenzoate (EP) and butyl 4-hydroxybenzoate (BP) both in 1.6 % of products. The concentrations of parabens in the cosmetic products were all within the safety limits required by the SCCS. The exposure to parabens decreased with increasing age in accordance with a published data. The MoS of parabens in children's cosmetics were all more than 100, indicating parabens to be of manageable risk and safe for use.