Abstract
Fragranced consumer products have been associated with adverse effects on human health. Babies are exposed to a variety of fragranced consumer products, which can emit numerous volatile organic compounds (VOCs), some considered potentially hazardous. However, fragranced baby products are exempt from disclosure of all ingredients. Consequently, parents and the public have little information on product emissions. This study investigates VOCs emitted from a range of fragranced baby products, including baby hair shampoos, body washes, lotions, creams, ointments, oils, hair sprays, and fragrance. The products were analysed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) headspace analysis. Of the 42 baby products tested, 21 products made claims of green, organic, or all-natural. Results of the analysis found 684 VOCs emitted collectively from the 42 products, representing 228 different VOCs. Of these 684 VOCs, 207 are classified as potentially hazardous under federal regulations, representing 43 different VOCs. The most common VOCs emitted were limonene, acetaldehyde, ethanol, alpha-pinene, linalool, beta-myrcene, acetone, and beta-pinene. A comparison between ingredients emitted and ingredients listed reveals that only 5% of the 684 VOCs, including 12% of 207 potentially hazardous VOCs, were listed on the product label, safety data sheet, or website. More than 95% of both green and regular products emitted one or more potentially hazardous VOCs. Further, emissions of the most prevalent VOCs from green, organic, or all-natural products were not significantly different from regular products. Results from this study can help improve public awareness about emissions from baby products, with the aim to reduce pollutant exposure and potential adverse effects on babies.
Highlights
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.Department of Infrastructure Engineering, Melbourne School of Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, AustraliaSchool of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, AustraliaCollege of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, AustraliaClimate, Atmospheric Sciences, and Physical Oceanography, ScrippsInstitution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, LaJolla, CA 92093, USAVolatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a major category of pollutants, associated with adverse effects on human health (e.g., World Health Organization (WHO) 2018; NationalInstitutes of Health (NIH) 2018; Safe Work Australia (SWA)2018; Wallace 2001)
Previous studies have found more than 150 different volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from fragranced products, including terpenes such as limonene and alpha-pinene, and hazardous air pollutants such as formaldehyde and acetaldehyde (Steinemann 2015)
This article reports on the first known study to investigate the VOCs emitted from fragranced baby products, including both regular products and green products
Summary
The disclosure requirements depend on the type of product For consumer products such as cleaning supplies, laundry products, air fresheners, and household items, no law in Australia requires disclosure of all ingredients. Previous studies have discovered that products called natural, green, and organic emitted hazardous air pollutants similar to their regular counterparts (Steinemann 2015). Previous research on VOC emissions from fragranced consumer products found the most common compounds were ethanol and limonene (Steinemann 2015), limonene (Dimitroulopoulou et al 2015), and limonene and linalool (ter Burg et al 2014). This article reports on the first known study to investigate the VOCs emitted from fragranced baby products, including both regular products and green products. Emissions between regular and green products are contrasted, as well as their links with hazard classifications and labelling
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