Application of microwave-assisted micro-solid-phase extraction for determination of parabens in human ovarian cancer tissues

Parabens (alkyl esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid) are widely used as preservatives in food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. However, weak estrogenicity of some parabens has been reported in several studies, which provided the impetus for this work. Here, a simple and efficient analytical method for quantifying parabens in cancer tissues has been developed. This technique involves the simultaneous use of microwave-assisted solvent extraction (MASE) and micro-solid phase extraction (μ-SPE), in tandem with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC/UV) analysis for the determination of parabens. The pollutants studied included four parabens (methyl, ethyl, propyl and butyl parabens). Optimization of the experimental parameters for MASE and μ-SPE was performed. Good relative standard deviation (%RSD) ranged from 0.09 to 2.81% and high enrichment factors (27-314) were obtained. Coefficients of determination (r2) up to 0.9962 were obtained across a concentration range of 5.0-200 ng g−1. The method detection limits for parabens ranged from 0.005 to 0.0244 ng g−1. The procedure was initially tested on prawn samples to demonstrate its feasibility on a complex biological matrix. Preliminary studies on human ovarian cancer (OC) tissues showed presence of parabens. Higher levels of parabens were detected in malignant ovarian tumor tissues compared to benign tumor tissue samples.