Unwanted chemicals in personal care products contributes to an overall health-risk

We use different kinds of products on our bodies every single day. We use soap, brush our teeth with toothpaste and apply lotion on our skin.

Personal care products contain chemicals that ensure eg consistency, efficacy or long shelf life.

Some of these chemicals are suspected endocrine disrupters, and even though one product in itself is not problematic, a new study from The Danish Consumer Council THINK Chemicals shows that the daily use of several products can potentially pose a health-risk.

We have selected and examined a total of 37 products across 10 product categories for a range of substances, all suspected of having an adverse impact on the human hormonal system.

The downside of personal care products

In the test, we have calculated how much you potentially are exposed to endocrine disrupters if you use the tested products every day. Furthermore, we have calculated how big an impact this combined exposure can have on your overall health.

We conclude that you can possibly be exposed to amounts of endocrine disrupters that are above what is considered acceptable according to experts.

The more products containing suspected endocrine disrupters you use, the higher the risk is. This is called the cocktail-effect.

“We know that the population may already have potentially endocrine disrupting chemicals in their bodies, and everything else we are exposed to – for instance from personal care products – is added on,” Marie Louise Holmer, Special Consultant at DTU National Food Institute explains.

Contribution to an overall health-risk

Daily use of the products containing problematic substances contributes to an overall health-risk.

Here you can see the contribution to the overall risk from the tested products and for the combined exposure to each of the tested substances.

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There are upcoming restrictions in the EU on the substances homosalate and cyclopentasiloxane.

Impact on the body

All the examined substances can contribute to an overall health-risk. Some substances contribute more than others, and some can even constitute a risk in themselves, the calculations show. This is for instance the case with the UV-filter Homosalate which is used in face creams, foundations and sunscreens.

However, you should not skip using the sunscreen, says Stine Müller, Project Manager at the Danish Consumer Council, the organization behind the study.

“Sunscreen is an essential protection against the damaging UV rays of the sun, and fortunately there are many sunscreens without suspected endocrine disrupters that still protect against the damaging rays from the sun just as efficient as other sunscreens,” she says.

The examined substances can affect our hormones in different ways. They can affect our sex hormones, which for example can:

• Decrease  our fertility.
• Cause malformation of genitals for newborns.
• Provoke premature puberty.
• Increase the risk of some types of cancer – for instance breast- and testicular cancer.

Some of the substances can also influence thyroid hormones. The thyroid hormones helps to control multiple functions in our body including metabolism, growth and development, and our general mood.

For pregnant women, there is a concern that disruption of the thyroid hormones can result in a lower IQ and also influence the growth of the fetus.

The fetal stage is one of the most sensitive periods of human development, when it comes to exposure to endocrine disrupters. Pregnant women are recommended to be extra careful, as endocrine disrupters are absorbed through the skin and may be transferred to the fetus.

It is also a good idea to be extra careful, when you have small children or children going through puberty, as their bodies are developing and therefore are extra sensitive to exposure.

Generally, we recommend people, no matter what age, to choose personal care products and cosmetics without suspected endocrine disrupters.

“When you use skin care products, you have to be aware that chemicals in the products often penetrates the skin. Tests have shown that only a few hours after applying a lotion to the skin of test subjects, we measured several endocrine disrupters - often used in cosmetics - in both the blood and urine samples.

Therefore, it is a good idea to try to avoid products with unwanted chemicals as much as possible if you want to reduce your exposure to endocrine disrupting substances. There are alternative products, and they are not necessarily more expensive - on the contrary,” says Anna-Maria Andersson, leader of the Danish Centre on Endocrine Disrupters.

There is no safe level

Along with colleagues from the DTU National Food Institute, Marie Louise Holmer has assisted in establishing which amounts of the selected substances, that can be considered as safe or acceptable.

According to Marie Louise Holmer, however, safe or acceptable amounts of endocrine disrupters are under discussion.

“There is still a scientific debate about whether there is a level of endocrine disrupters that is low enough to be safe if you are exposed during one of the very sensitive periods of development – for instance during pregnancy. Therefore, the safest advice is to minimize the exposure to potentially endocrines disrupting chemicals as much as possible,” she says.

You may use different or fewer products than those included in our test, however, you come into contact with suspected endocrine disrupters from a lot of other sources in your daily life – for example textiles, food, electronics and everything else you come in contact with during a typical day.

“We simply cannot say how much a typical person is exposed to in a day. We have only included certain personal care products – and not all other potential sources – in our investigation. If we include those, it would only provide even more reason to avoid personal care products with the unwanted substances,” says Stine Müller.

Whereas most products are difficult to check for unwanted substances, personal care products are something we can actually control as their content is listed on the label. Therefore, it is a good place to steer clear of unwanted substances, and fortunately, many products on the shelves do not contain the suspected endocrine disrupters we have tested for here.

25% of the 16.500 cosmetic and personal care products assessed in our app Kemiluppen contains suspected endocrine disruptors.

No change in 10 years

It’s no secret that personal care products contain problematic substances, nor that the Danish Consumer Council is paying attention to them.

We made a similar test in 2013. Since then, some substances are no longer added to the personal care products on the market, but other substances have been added subsequently. Furthermore, for some of the substances the acceptable amount has been lowered.

“All in all, the risk assessment does not look any better today than in 2013 – and I actually find that quite surprising and objectionable,” says Stine Müller.

The Danish Consumer Council believes that substances that are suspected endocrine disrupters should be banned in personal care products and all other consumer products, meaning that it’s no longer the responsibility of the consumers to protect themselves against them. However, these substances are still allowed in the EU.

“Companies are required to conduct safety assessments of the individual substances in their products. However, legislation should also consider the risk when we are exposed to the chemicals in various products during the same day,” says Stine Müller.