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Assessment of exposure for baby cosmetic care products in a Korean population

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2017.05.039Get rights and content

Highlights

  • We assessed exposure to cosmetic products for babies in a Korean population.

  • We compared seasonal variation in the pattern of use of products.

  • Of specific note, 3.51% of the lotion in a wet wipe was transferred to the skin.

Abstract

Assessment of exposure to cosmetic products via the skin is important for evaluating the risks associated with the use of these products. However, few exposure studies have been conducted with babies, particularly in Asia. The aim of our study was to assess the exposure to selected cosmetic products in babies under the age of 36 months, over both winter and summer months. We evaluated exposure for seven cosmetic baby care products identified in a previous web-based survey as being commonly used by Korean parents. Parents were instructed to use their baby's products as per their usual habit, recording usage for each product on a daily basis over a 14-day period. Products were weighed at the start and completion of the study, with the change in weight used to determine the total amount of product used. Descriptive statistics for daily exposure were calculated. In this study, daily exposure for different products was influenced by sex, age groups and seasons. Of specific note, 3.51% of the lotion in a wet wipe was transferred to the skin. In conclusion, we provide baseline exposure data for baby products, with exposure being based on parents' usual use of the products.

Introduction

The assessment of exposure to chemicals through the skin provides a way to evaluate the risk associated with the use of products. The use of cosmetic products varies among individuals of different age and ethnicity, as well as between countries. As such, exposure should be assessed in sample populations of various ages and from different ethnicities and countries in order to obtain reliable data to evaluate the safety of ingredients contained in cosmetic products, as well as for the product itself. Although exposure data is important, such studies remain relatively rare.

The pattern of use for various cosmetic products has been evaluated in different populations (Biesterbos et al., 2013, Ficheux et al., 2015, Wu et al., 2010), with exposure data for selected products published for adults in Europe (Ficheux et al., 2016a, Hall et al., 2011, Hall et al., 2007) and the United States (Loretz et al., 2005, Loretz et al., 2006). However, the availability of exposure data for children is limited in Europe (Ficheux et al., 2016b, Gomez-Berrada et al., 2017), and with little to no paediatric data identified for Asia. With regard to paediatric data, we identified a retrospective review (Gomez-Berrada et al., 2013) of 48 clinical studies, conducted between 2001 and 2011, which provided exposure data for six baby products in children 3 months to 10 years of age. In addition, Gomez-Berrada et al. reported the real consumption and exposure data for seven products for babies under 2 years old (Gomez-Berrada et al., 2017). A French study (Ficheux et al., 2016b) evaluated exposure to 24 cosmetic products, including skin cleanser, skin care cream and lotion, fragrance, sunscreen, and diaper rash products, between March 2014 and December 2015, in children 0–3 years old. A multicentre study was conducted in 2013 (Dey et al., 2016) to assess the transfer of lotion to infants via wet wipes. Our aim in this study was to assess the exposure to selected cosmetic products that are commonly used for babies up to the age of 36 months in a Korean population. Exposure data were assessed for two seasons, winter and summer, to compare seasonal variation in the pattern of use of products.

Section snippets

Study population

We conducted the study in two Korean cities, Seoul and Pusan, with the target population being babies 0–36 months, selected using quotas by age (3 age groups at a 1-year interval). Our winter exposure group included 167 babies, with data collected in February 2016, and our summer exposure group included 169 babies, with data collected in July 2016. These two groups were mostly distinct populations and only 13 subjects were in both two groups. Babies having a pre-existing skin condition, such as

Characteristics of participant group

Relevant demographic data of our study group are summarized in Table 1. The sex distribution was comparable among the 167 babies tested during the winter months (50.3% were male and 49.7% female) and among the 169 babies tested during the summer months (50.9% males and 49.1% females). With the exception of hair length between male and female babies, there were no specific-specific differences in baseline characteristics.

Exposure assessment

Descriptive statistics regarding the daily frequency of use of each

Discussion

In this study, we assessed the exposure dose to cosmetic products in babies up to the age of 36 months in a Korean population. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report the baseline exposure dose for seven cosmetic products that are commonly used in Korea. We provide evidence of a significant seasonal effect on exposure to certain products, such as for liquid type cleanser and number of wipes used on limbs in the daily exposure per body weight unit. However, the previous studies were

Funding sources

This study was supported by a grant (14172MFDS975) from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of Korea in 2016.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgement

This research was conducted with online research companies, ©Macromill Embrain Company and ©IEC Korea Company. We thank all of our respondents for their participation.

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