More than 100 common consumer products contain at least one chemical linked to cancer or reproductive and developmental problems, according to a recent  study  published in  Environmental Science & Technology.

Study details

For the study, researchers cross-referenced the  California Air Resources Board's list of products sold in the state that contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) — chemicals that can easily transform into gases and are released in the air — with chemicals flagged as carcinogens or reproductive and developmental toxicants by Proposition 65.

The researchers found 33 VOCs identified by Proposition 65 are hazardous to a person's health, and those chemicals were found to be in 105 different consumer product categories. Some chemicals were found in personal care products, like nail polish, shampoo, and soap, while others were found in cleaning products like all-purpose cleaners, laundry detergent, and dish soap. The researchers found the largest group of products were those often used in workplace settings like factories or construction sites, including products like adhesives, degreasers, lubricants, and sealants.

One of the most concerning chemicals identified by the researchers was diethanolamine (DEA), which has been classified as a possible carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and is banned in Canada and the European Union from use in cosmetics. The researchers found DEA listed as an ingredient in 40 items, including soap, lotions, hair products, and household cleaners.

The most common chemical found was formaldehyde, a known carcinogen that is also banned from use in cosmetics in the European Union. Formaldehyde was found in 17 product categories, according to the study.

The researchers identified 11 chemicals and 30 product categories "as immediate targets for regulatory restriction or manufacturer redesign." Roughly two-thirds of those products were personal care or cleaning products commonly used at home, and many were used by professional cleaners, auto mechanics, construction workers, and those working in hair and nail salons.

Commentary

According to Kristin Knox, a scientist at Silent Spring Institute and co-author of the study, the findings are "alarming."

"It just highlights that there are a lot of products that people use every day that contain many of these harmful chemicals," she said.

It's especially concerning that these chemicals are released into the air, Knox added. "If you're using a product that has a lot of VOCs in it, it's not just that you might be smearing that product on your body, but also it's being released into the air," she said.

"It's not just one product at a time, like your dish detergent, it's the fact that we use multiple products every day and each of these products could have different [VOCs] in them, so all of this really adds up in our daily lives," said Robin Dodson, a scientist at Silent Spring and a co-author of the study.

Children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable to the chemicals mentioned in the study. "During the intrauterine time period, the developing organism is far more sensitive to the effect of chemical exposure than we are as adults," said Megan Schwarzman, a physician and environmental health scientist at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and a co-author of the study. "So the same level of, say, solvent exposure causes very different effects when that exposure occurs prenatally than when it does as an adult."

Kurunthachalam Kannan, a research professor at NYU Langone Health who studies human exposure to toxic substances, said the results were not surprising to him.

"These volatile organic compounds are there in almost every product that we use: the consumer products, personal care products, cosmetics," he said.

Workers typically have very little power "to control the products that they use in the workplace and what they're exposed to," Schwarzman said, and as a result, regulatory action is necessary to protect employees from these chemicals.

According to the researchers, one way to limit exposure to some of these chemicals is purchasing home and personal care products that are fragrance free, as fragrances are a common source of VOCs, as scent has to be released into the air in order for people to smell it. The researchers also recommended using the products with as much ventilation as possible. (Smith, New York Times, 5/3; Perkins, The Guardian, 5/3)