Ethylparaben is the ethyl ester of p-hydroxybenzoic acid. Its formula is HO-C6H4-CO-O-CH2CH3. It is a member of the class of compounds known as parabens.Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, and Butylparaben in the diet produced cell proliferation in the forestomach of rats, with the activity directly related to chain length of the alkyl chain, but Isobutylparaben and Butylparaben were noncarcinogenic in a mouse chronic feeding study. Methylparaben was noncarcinogenic when injected subcutaneously in mice or rats, or when administered intravaginally in rats, and was not cocarcinogenic when injected subcutaneously in mice. Propylparaben was noncarcinogenic in a study of transplacental carcinogenesis. Methylparaben was nonteratogenic in rabbits, rats, mice, and hamsters, and Ethylparaben was nonteratogenic in rats. Parabens, even at levels that produce maternal toxicity, do not produce fetal anomalies in animal studies.
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