Antimicrobial Activity and Toxicity of Preservative Chemicals

Parabens are alkyl esters of p-hydroxy benzoic acid which are widely used in foods, cosmetics, and pharmacological products as preservatives. Actually, human body is exposed to various parabens in the above products. This study was conducted to determine the toxicity of paraben by various concentration of butyl paraben, methyl paraben, propyl paraben, and 1,2 hexane diol in the three field of microorganisms, human keratinocyte, and zebra fish. The highest rate of growth inhibition was shown in microbial study of buthyl paraben. 1,2 hexane diol had the lowest cytotoxic effect and Methyl paraben had the highest in human keratinocyte. We have monitored the growth pattern of zebrafish at the time point (1,2,3, and 4 day). The toxicity induced the embryo mortality, morphological malformation, and disturbance in heart-beating. Methyl paraben was significantly increased the mortality rate in zebrafish embryo. In assessing the morphological malformations, most parabens did show the adverse effect, but 1,2 hexane diol did not shown.