Substance flow analysis of parabens in Denmark complemented with a survey of presence and frequency in various commodities

Parabens are commonly used as preservatives due to anti-bactericidal and anti-fungicidal properties and they are ubiquitously present in personal care products, pharmaceuticals, food, industrial and domestic commodities. They are suspected of causing endocrine disrupting effects to aquatic organisms and adverse effects in humans and, thus, it is highly relevant to identify and quantify their sources and transportation pathways in the urban environment. Here a substance flow analysis (SFA) was performed in order to map and comprehend the substances’ flow on a national basis. Many household commodities were found to contain parabens; cleaning detergents, slimy toys, and water-based paint. The presence and concentration of parabens are regulated in cosmetics and food. Use of parabens in pharmaceuticals as excipients is documented in Denmark. The import of parabens is increasing; although the number of industrial parabens containing commodities is decreasing and manufacturer reports phase-out of parabens. The vast majority of the paraben containing commodities has a durability of 18–30 months, thus the average lifetime of the paraben stock is perceived to be limited. The inflow was ca. 154 tonnes via pure chemicals and 7.2–73 tonnes via commodities in 2004. This corresponds to an average wastewater concentration of 640–900 μg/L, when excluding discharge to solid waste, soil, biodegradation and metabolism. This is in the same order of magnitudes as can be found in industrial wastewater but higher than that seen in domestic wastewater. The data needed for the SFA is sparse, dispersed, and difficult to access and associated with a great deal of uncertainty.