In this study, the method of GC-MS with liquid-liquid extraction was adopted to analyze the parabens in 15 lakes of Guangzhou. The results showed that: parabens were detected from all the sampling sites while the content was not high contrasted with foreign waters. The average content of parabens in aquatic matter is 5.06 ng/L, and that in suspended particulate matter is 0.78 ng/L. Concentration of Butyl paraben is more than other parabens in water, accounted for 30.45% of the total in aquatic matter, while concentration of Benzyl paraben is the lowest, accounted for 6.71%. According to the intensity of the suppress of the luminous bacteria, we can characterize the intensity of toxicity of parabens. The results show that Benzyl paraben has the strongest toxic among the five parabens, and has the biggest impact on the environment of lakes in Guangzhou.