Toxicities of Four Parabens and Their Mixtures to Daphnia magna and Aliivibrio fischeri

The objective of this study was to determine toxicities of four parabens (methyl paraben, MP; ethyl paraben, EP; n-propyl paraben, PP; and n-butyl paraben; BP) and their mixtures to two aquatic microorganisms, Daphnia magna and Aliivibrio fischeri. Parabens are one of the widely used preservatives for personal care products, such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and food also. First, each paraben was treated to D. magna to measure the toxicity levels as LC(20) and LC(50). The results showed their value of MP (25.2 mg/L, 73.4 mg/L), EP (18.4 mg/L, 43.7 mg/L), PP (10.4 mg/L, 21.1 mg/L) and BP (3.3 mg/L, 11.2 mg/L). Then, each of the parabens was treated to A. fischeri and calculated their EC(20) and EC(50) by bioluminescence inhibition test. The results showed the values of MP (2.93 mg/L, 16.8 mg/L), EP (1.18 mg/L, 6.74 mg/L), PP (0.51 mg/L, 5.85 mg/L) and BP (0.21 mg/L, 2.34 mg/L). These four parabens belong to the group classified as being ‘harmful to aquatic organisms’ (above 10 mg/L, below 100 mg/L). After measuring the toxicity, EC(20) values of two or more parabens were tested in order to investigate their toxicity. A total of ten combinations of four parabens were tested. As a result, the bioluminescence inhibition test of A. fischeri showed that the toxicity of mixture parabens was stronger than that of a single compound and combinations of three parabens showed the highest bioluminescence inhibition. These results showed that independent toxicity of paraben was maintained. Therefore, it can be predictable that the toxicity of paraben is getting stronger by the addition of other parabens.