Body lotions, mothballs, cleaning fluids and other widely used products contain known toxic chemicals, study finds

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

• We found that many household products like shampoos, body lotions, cleaners and mothballs release toxic volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, into indoor air.
• In addition, we identified toxic VOCs that are prevalent in products heavily used by workers on the job, such as cleaning fluids, adhesives, paint removers and nail polish.
• However, gaps in laws that govern ingredient disclosure mean that neither consumers nor workers generally know what is in the products they use.

Why it matters

• We also found that people are likely co-exposed to many hazardous chemicals together as mixtures through use of many different products, which often contain many chemicals of health concern.
• For example, janitors might use a combination of general cleaners, degreasers, detergents and other maintenance products.
• Diethanolamine, a chemical frequently used in products like shampoos that are creamy or foamy, appeared in 40 different product categories.
• Some chemicals, such as N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone and ethylene gylcol, are listed under Prop 65 because they are reproductive or developmental toxicants.

What still isn’t known

• Our analysis of the CARB data on volatile toxicants does not paint a complete picture.
• In addition, we were not able to identify specific products of concern because the agency aggregates data over whole categories of products.

What other research is being done

• Research by members of our team has also shown that product use varies by race and ethnicity, partly due to racialized beauty standards.
• We’ve found in other research that some manufacturers do choose to reformulate their products to avoid Prop 65 chemicals, rather than having to warn customers about toxic ingredients.
• Robin Dodson is Associate Director of Research Operations and a research scientist at the Silent Spring Institute, a scientific research organization dedicated to studying environmental factors in women’s health..
• Megan R. Schwarzman receives funding via the University of California, Berkeley from the California Breast Cancer Research Program, which supported this research.