Concentration and health risk assessment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in cosmetic and personal care products

Abstract

Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are toxicologically concerning because of their potential to bioaccumulate and their persistence in the environment and the human body. We determined PFAS levels in cosmetic and personal care products and assessed their health risks. We investigated the trends in concentrations and types of PFAS contaminants in cosmetic and personal care products before and after perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) were added to the list of persistent organic pollutants. The total PFAS concentration ranged from 1.98 to 706.75 ng g−1. The hazard quotients (HQs) for PFOA, PFOS and perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS) were lower than 1, indicating no appreciable risk to consumers. Assuming the simultaneous use of all product types and the worst-case scenario for calculations, perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids and perfluoroalkane sulfonic acids (PFSAs) also had hazard indices lower than 1. We found that adverse effects are unlikely to occur when each type of cosmetic is used separately, or even when all product types are used together. Nevertheless, the persistence and bioaccumulation characteristics of additional PFAS present in cosmetics continue to be a cause for concern. Further research is necessary to investigate the long-term impacts of using such cosmetics and the associated risks to human health.