Developing Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR) for shampoos: The basis for comparable life cycle assessment.

In 2013, the European Commission launched the Environmental Footprint Rules pilot phase. This initiative aims at setting specific rules for life cycle assessment (LCA: raw material sourcing, production, logistics, use, and disposal phase) studies within 1 product category, called product environmental footprint category rules (PEFCR), and for organizations, called organizational environmental footprint sector rules (OEFSR). Such specific rules for measuring environmental performance throughout the life cycle should facilitate the comparability between LCA studies and provide principles for communicating environmental performance, such as transparency, reliability, completeness, and clarity. Cosmetics Europe, the association representing the cosmetics industry in the European Union, completed a voluntary study into the development of PEFCR for shampoo, generally following the guidelines and methodology developed by the European Commission for its own pilot projects. The study assessed the feasibility and relevance of establishing PEFCR for shampoo. Specifically, the study defines a large number of modeling assumptions and default values relevant for shampoo (e.g., for the functional unit, the system boundaries, default transport distances, rinsing water volumes, temperature differences, life cycle inventory data sources) that can be modified as appropriate, according to the specificities of individual products, manufacturing companies, and countries. The results of the study may be used to support internal decision making (e.g., to identify "hotspots" with high environmental impact and opportunities for improvement) or to meet information requests from commercial partners, consumers, media, or authorities on product environmental characteristics. In addition, the shampoo study also highlighted many of the challenges and limitations of the current product environmental footprint (PEF) methodology, namely its complexity and resource intensiveness. It highlighted 2 areas where improvements are much needed: (1) data quality and availability, and (2) impact assessment methodologies and robustness. Many of the findings are applicable to other rinse-off cosmetic products, such as shower gels, liquid soaps, bath products, and hair conditioners. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:649-659. © 2018 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Human health risk assessment of chloroxylenol in liquid hand soap and dishwashing soap used by consumers and health-care professionals.

A quantitative human risk assessment of chloroxylenol was conducted for liquid hand and dishwashing soap products used by consumers and health-care workers. The toxicological data for chloroxylenol indicate lack of genotoxicity, no evidence of carcinogenicity, and minimal systemic toxicity. No observed adverse effect levels (NOAEL) were established from chronic toxicity studies, specifically a carcinogenicity study that found no cancer excess (18 mg/kg-day) and studies of developmental and reproductive toxicity (100 mg/kg-day). Exposure to chloroxylenol for adults and children was estimated for two types of rinse-off cleaning products, one liquid hand soap, and two dishwashing products. The identified NOAELs were used together with exposure estimates to derive margin of exposure (MOE) estimates for chloroxylenol (i.e., estimates of exposure over NOAELs). These estimates were designed with conservative assumptions and likely overestimate exposure and risk (i.e., highest frequency, 100% dermal penetration). The resulting MOEs ranged from 178 to over 100, 000, 000 indicating negligibly small potential for harm related to consumer or health-care worker exposure to chloroxylenol in liquid soaps used in dish washing and hand washing.

Scented traces--Dermal exposure of synthetic musk fragrances in personal care products and environmental input assessment.

Synthetic musks are organic compounds used as fragrance and fixative additives in several personal care products. Until now, little is known about their occurrence and distribution in these household commodities. However, this information is essential to perform a human dermal exposure assessment. Therefore, this study gives an overview on the levels of 12 synthetic musks in 140 personal care products from 7 different categories (body and hair wash, toilet soaps, shaving products, dentifrice products, deodorants/antiperspirants, moisturizers and perfumes). They were analysed by QuEChERS extraction followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Detection limits were found between 0.01ngg(-1) (galaxolide) and 5.00ngg(-1) (musk xylene). Higher average concentrations of total synthetic musks were detected in perfumes (5245.05µgg(-1)) and shampoos (487.67µgg(-1)) for adults. Galaxolide, exaltolide and cashmeran were the most detected compounds. Combining these results with the daily usage amounts, an average daily dermal exposure of 75.69µgkgbw(-1)day(-1) for adults and 15.54µgkgbw(-1)day(-1) for babies/children was achieved. The main contributors for adult and babies/children dermal exposure were perfumes and lotions, respectively. About 40% of the adult daily dermal exposure is related to exaltolide, 30% galaxolide, and 15% tonalide, while for babies/children 96% occurs due to exaltolide. An estimate of the amount of musks discharged "down-the-drain" into the wastewater treatment systems through the use of toiletries was also performed. An average emission per capita of 6.7mgday(-1) was determined and galaxolide and exaltolide were the predominant musks in the effluents.

Assessment of metals in cosmetics commonly used in Saudi Arabia.

Cosmetics are one of the most important sources of releasing heavy metals. Different varieties of chemicals are used in cosmetic products as ingredients and some are used as preservatives. There are concerns regarding the presence of harmful chemicals in these products. Among the harmful chemicals, cosmetic products contain heavy metals. The present study was conducted to determine the content of certain heavy metals in the products made in different countries and marketed in Saudi Arabia. Thirty-one products of different brands or misbrands of commonly used cosmetic products (hair cream, beauty cream, skin cream, hair food formula, hair gel, whitening daily scrub, shampoo, shower gel, body care, body lotion, hand wash, daily fairness, shaving cream, toothpaste, germ and beauty soap, and cream soap) were purchased from local markets of Saudi Arabia. Samples were analyzed to determine the concentrations of ten metals (lead, aluminum, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, manganese, nickel, mercury, and arsenic) using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). Based on the maximum concentrations, the heavy metal contents were arranged in the following decreasing order: Al > Cu > Mn > Pb > Cr > Ni > Hg > Co > As > Cd in cream products, Al > Pb > Cu > Cr > Mn > Ni > Hg > As > Co > Cd in shampoo products, Al > Cu > Pb > Cr > Mn > Ni > As > Co > Hg > Cd in soap products, and Al > Cu > Mn > Pb > Cr > Co > Ni > Cd > As > Hg in toothpaste products. Since the metal concentrations may relate to specific brands, product type, color, or cost, industrialist would have to check the raw materials before they are gathered into the final products to track the source of these contaminants.

National and regional assessment of the antibacterial soap market: a step toward determining the impact of prevalent antibacterial soaps.

BACKGROUND: Consumer antibacterial soaps contain triclosan or triclocarban. No scientific data have been published to suggest that the use of antibacterial agents in household products prevents infection, and triclosan resistance mechanisms have recently been identified. Little data are available regarding the prevalence of antibacterial agents contained in consumer soaps. METHODS: In a physician-performed survey of 23 stores in 10 states from December 1999 to April 2000, investigators determined the number of national brand liquid and bar soaps and percent of each containing antibacterial agents sold at national chain, regional grocery, and Internet stores. RESULTS: Antibacterial agents were present in 76% of liquid soaps and 29% of bar soaps available nationally. There were no differences found between national, regional, and Internet stores. CONCLUSION: Overall, 45% of surveyed soaps contain antibacterial agents. With limited documented benefits and experimental laboratory evidence suggesting possible adverse effects on the emergence of antimicrobial resistance, consumer antibacterial use of this magnitude should be questioned.