A review of the extraction and chromatographic determination methods for the analysis of parabens

•Parabens are widely used antimicrobial preservatives.•Parabens may have harmful consequences on animal and human health.•We reviewed main sample preparation methods for parabens.•We reviewed main chromatographic analysis methods for parabens.

Parabens are a family of most widely used antimicrobial preservatives in food ingredients, cosmetic consumer products and pharmaceutical preparations. But several recent studies have cautioned that exposure to parabens may have more harmful consequences on animal and human health than what we realized previously, which made the analysis of parabens necessary. In this paper, we reviewed main sample preparation methods and chromatographic analysis methods proposed in formerly published works dealing with the analysis of parabens in different matrices. The sample preparation methods included ultrasonic assisted extraction, supercritical fluid extraction, pressurized liquid extraction, solid phase extraction, solid phase microextraction, liquid phase microextraction, dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction, stir bar sorptive extraction and matrix solid phase dispersion. The chromatographic analysis methods involved liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, and capillary electrophoresis.