Nano-enabled personal care products: Current developments in consumer safety

Abstract

Increasing adoption of nanotechnologies in personal care products is outpacing comprehensive evaluation of consumer safety risks involving exposure to nano-additives. This review examines the prevalence of personal care products containing nanomaterials, the means by which humans are exposed to nanomaterials during use of these products, and our current understanding of the corresponding health effects in humans after exposure. Efforts to minimize negative impacts through sustainability practices and regulation are also discussed. Upon evaluating three online databases of nano-enabled consumer products, we focused our review on personal care products containing silver (Ag), titanium dioxide (TiO2), and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles as these were found to be the most prevalent in personal care products. Up to 90% of all nano-enabled personal care products involve intentional or unintentional dermal exposure. Nanomaterial release from personal care products, and subsequent toxicity to consumers, are highly dependent on nanoparticle shapes, sizes, and association chemistries with other personal care product ingredients. In turn, these characteristics are dependent on chemical manufacturing routes. Upon reviewing the literature on life-cycle analysis of manufacturing processes, we found that the most rigorous analyses available employ multi-criteria decision tools. The conflicting perspectives of manufacturers and consumer advocacy groups on how to regulate nano-enabled personal care products illustrate the need for more experimental data.