Potential health risks of metals in skin care products used by Chinese consumers aged 19-29 years

Yikan Meng; Yang Li; Na Zheng; Shengnan Hou; Yunyang Li; Sujing Wang; Siyu Sun; Xiuyi Hua; Dapeng Liang

doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.112184

Potential health risks of metals in skin care products used by Chinese consumers aged 19-29 years

Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2021 Apr 8:216:112184. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.112184. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yikan Meng¹, Yang Li¹, Na Zheng², Shengnan Hou³, Yunyang Li⁴, Sujing Wang¹, Siyu Sun¹, Xiuyi Hua¹, Dapeng Liang¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment of the Ministry of Education, College of Environment and Resources, Jilin University, China.
² Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment of the Ministry of Education, College of Environment and Resources, Jilin University, China; Northeast Institute of Geography and Agricultural Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin, China. Electronic address: zhengnalzz@neigae.ac.cn.
³ Northeast Institute of Geography and Agricultural Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin, China; Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment of the Ministry of Education, College of Environment and Resources, Jilin University, China; Northeast Institute of Geography and Agricultural Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin, China.

PMID: 33839485
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.112184

Abstract

Metal contamination of skin care products that occurs during their production poses potential health risks, which are of increasing concern, to consumers. Here, we collected 570 responses to an online survey to analyze the usage pattern of skin care products across China. Then a total of 30 commonly used skin care products with various prices and applications were purchased. The concentrations of metals (Al, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr, Pb, Hg, and Cd) and metalloid As, were determined. Next, we improved the frequency calculation method and used the weighted exposure frequency to calculate the dermal absorption dose (DAD). The amounts of Zn, Cr, and Al that were assimilated by the human body via uptake were approximately 2 orders of magnitude greater than those of Pb, Hg, Cd, Ni and metalloid As. In addition, younger consumers were at higher risk of metals exposure than older consumers because of their higher frequency of use of skin care products. Al and Zn posed higher risk to consumers because of its high DAD. There was no significant chronic non-carcinogenic health risk (hazard index < 1) posed by skincare product use.

Keywords: Hazard quotient; Health risk; Metal; Skin care product.