Personal care product use as a predictor of urinary concentrations of certain phthalates, parabens, and phenols in the HERMOSA study

Abstract

Use of personal care products, such as makeup, soaps, and sunscreen, may expose adolescent girls to potential endocrine disruptors, including phthalates, parabens, and other phenols. We evaluated the relationship between recent self-reported personal care product use and concentrations for urinary metabolites of phthalates, parabens, triclosan, and benzophenone-3 (BP-3) in 100 Latina adolescents. Girls who reported using makeup every day vs. rarely/never had higher urinary concentrations of monoethyl phthalate (MEP) (102.2 ng/mL vs. 52.4 ng/mL, P-value: 0.04), methyl paraben (MP) (120.5 ng/mL vs. 13.4 ng/mL, P-value < 0.01), and propyl paraben (PP) (60.4 ng/mL vs. 2.9 ng/mL, P-value < 0.01). Girls who reported recent use of specific makeup products, including foundation, blush, and mascara, had higher urinary concentrations of MEP, mono-n-butyl phthalate (MBP), MP, and PP. Use of Colgate Total toothpaste was associated with 86.7% higher urinary triclosan concentrations. Use of sunscreen was associated with 57.8% higher urinary concentrations of BP-3. Our findings suggest that personal care product use is associated with higher exposure to certain phthalates, parabens, and other phenols in urine. This may be especially relevant in adolescent girls who have high use of personal care products during a period of important reproductive development.

Keywords: Benzophenone-3; Parabens; Personal care products; Phthalates; Product use; Triclosan.

Figure 1

Geometric means and geometric standard errors of urinary chemical concentrations among HERMOSA participants (N=100) who recently used or did not use certain personal care products, with p-values for T-tests comparing geometric means

Figure 2

Geometric means and geometric standard deviations of urinary chemical concentrations of personal care product chemicals by clusters as determined using Bayesian Profile Regression Cluster 1 (n=46) is characterized by high makeup use and high scent use. Cluster 2 (n=14) is characterized by high makeup use and low scent use. Cluster 3 (n=22) is characterized by low makeup use and high scent use. Cluster 4 (n=18) is characterized by low makeup use and low scent use.