Common consumer products contain multiple toxic chemicals, new study shows
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Many of the chemicals were found in personal care products, including nail polish, shampoo, lotion and soap.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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WASHINGTON – More than 100 types of common consumer products contain at least one chemical – and often multiple – linked to cancer or reproductive and developmental problems, according to research published on Tuesday in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
Many of the chemicals were found in personal care products, including nail polish, shampoo, lotion and soap. Cleaning products, particularly all-purpose cleaners, laundry detergent and dish soap, also contained numerous chemicals.
The largest group of products were those that might be used in workplace settings, such as factories or construction sites, and included adhesives, degreasers, lubricants and sealants.
“The thing that jumped out at us was just really the extent of the exposures,” said Dr Kristin Knox, a staff scientist at Silent Spring Institute who led the research. “People can be exposed to the same chemical in a whole bunch of different products.”
Some products also contain many different chemicals.
Dr Kurunthachalam Kannan, a research professor at New York University Langone Health who studies human exposure to toxic substances and was not involved in the study, said the results did not surprise him.
“These volatile organic compounds are there in almost every product that we use: the consumer products, personal care products, cosmetics,” he said.
The researchers also identified 11 of the chemicals and 30 of the product categories “as immediate targets for regulatory restriction or manufacturer redesign”. About two-thirds of the products were personal care or cleaning products people used at home.
Many of them were also used by professional cleaners, car mechanics, construction workers, or employees in hair and nail salons, who are potentially exposed to higher levels of the chemicals than the average consumer.
According to the researchers, one of the most concerning chemicals identified was diethanolamine, or DEA, which is classified as a possible carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and banned from use in cosmetics in Canada and the European Union. DEA was listed as an ingredient in 40 items, including soaps, lotions, hair products and household cleaners.
The preservative formaldehyde was also at the top of the list. It is a known carcinogen, is also prohibited in cosmetics in the European Union and was found in 17 product categories. Formaldehyde has been the focus of several studies evaluating the air quality of nail salons. NYTIMES
