High urinary concentrations of parabens and bisphenol A in very low birth weight infants

Very low birth weight infants (VLBW; birth weight < 1500 g) are treated with pharmaceuticals and medical equipment containing parabens and bisphenol A (BPA). Parabens are used in pharmaceuticals, whereas BPA in medical equipment where concentrations are rarely reported in hospitalised VLBW infants. We measured urinary concentrations of parabens and BPA and hypothesised high and increasing concentrations in infants born at lower gestational ages (GAs), and among infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and late-onset septicaemia (LOS) due to higher exposure from pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. Urinary samples were collected during the first (n = 38) and fifth (n = 36) week of life. Methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, and BPA concentrations were measured using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. VLBW infants had very high urinary concentrations of parabens and BPA compared to term infants and older children. The Σ paraben concentration was higher than detected in previous studies on premature infants. Lower GA at birth was associated with higher concentrations of parabens and BPA. Infants born before 28 weeks GA had higher first week concentrations of propylparaben (38.6 vs. 9.05 ng/mL, p = 0.007), butylparaben (0.28 vs. 0.09 ng/mL, p = 0.05) and fifth week concentrations of BPA (15.1 vs. 6.02 ng/mL, p = 0.02) than infants born after 28 weeks GA. Infants with LOS and BPD had higher fifth week concentrations of BPA than infants without LOS and BPD (LOS: 14.2 vs. 6.77 ng/mL, p = 0.07; BPD: 18.6 vs. 7.62 ng/mL, p = 0.05).