Comprehensive Screening of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Cosmetics and Personal Care Products: Implications for Human Dermal Exposure Risk

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in beauty products pose a potential human exposure risk through dermal contact. To better understand the potential exposure risk, PFAS were analyzed in 64 beauty products. Target analysis indicated that long-chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (C8-C9 PFCAs) appeared at high detection frequencies but low levels across all products, while C4-C7 PFCAs were detected at high levels in the products labeled with fluorinated ingredients (F-listed products). Total oxidizable precursor assay revealed widespread presence of perfluoroalkyl acid precursors in 95% of the samples, with levels in three of the F-listed products reaching nearly 1000 times the ∑_targetPFCAs. Suspect and nontarget analysis based on high-resolution mass spectrometry identified 20 emerging PFAS, including ultrashort-chain, ether-containing, fluorotelomer- and perfluoroalkyl sulfonamide-derived PFAS. Semiquantification using structurally similar standards showed that the ∑_emergingPFAS level ranged from 1.26 ng/g to 6.54 μg/g, with higher concentrations in the F-listed products. It is predicted that transdermal absorption via using F-listed cosmetics serves as the second most significant PFAS exposure route in the general population, with the median estimated ∑PFAS exposure level (1.28 ng/kg bw/day) exceeding the EFSA's recommended threshold. Our findings underscore that fluorinated ingredients in beauty products may introduce high levels of PFAS and pose a potential exposure risk, warranting further attention.