Environmental contamination status with common ingredients of household and personal care products

Abstract

The continuous use of household and personal care products (HPCPs) produces an immense amount of chemicals, such as parabens, bisphenols, UV filters, and alkylphenol ethoxylates, which are of great concern due to their well-known endocrine-disrupting properties. These chemicals easily enter the environment through man-made activities, thus contaminating the biota, including soil, water, plants and animals. Thus, on top of the direct exposure on account of their presence in HPCPs, humans are also susceptible to secondary indirect exposure attributed to the ubiquitous environmental contamination. The aim of this review is therefore to examine the sources and occurrence of these noteworthy contaminants (i.e., parabens, bisphenols, UV filters, alkylphenol ethoxylates), to summarize the available research on their environmental presence and to highlight the potential exposure pathways.