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 "We were trying to learn more about what ingredients were in nail
polish, and the more we dug deep into the labels, the more confused
I was about the health claims, which I knew would be confusing for
consumers and nail salon workers, too," said lead author Anna Young
of the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.
In the 2000s, nail polish manufacturers started phasing out three
particularly toxic chemicals: formaldehyde, toluene and dibutyl
phthalate (DnBP). They would label these formulations as "3-free."
However, many of these products replaced those chemicals with
another plasticizer, triphenyl phosphate (TPHP), which has since
been shown to be potentially toxic as well.
The European Union banned DnBP in cosmetics in 2004, Young's team
notes in Environmental Science and Technology.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires ingredient labels on
nail polishes but doesn't require products to be tested for safety
before entering the market, the researchers add. In addition,
certain chemicals such as phthalates can be listed as "fragrance"
due to trade secret concerns.
"It's a chemical Whack-a-Mole," Young said in a phone interview.
"That's especially important for nail salon workers because some of
these toxins are linked to complications with fertility, thyroid
issues, obesity and cancer."
Young and colleagues measured the concentrations of 22 plasticizers
in 40 nail polish samples to compare the label to actual
ingredients.
The samples included different colors, finishes and top coats, and
the researchers analyzed them for 12 phthalate and 10
organophosphate plasticizers.
Among the samples were 11 different "n-free" labels, ranging from
"3-free" to "13-free." All of the samples included significant
levels of at least one plasticizer, and most contained at least five
of the 22 ingredients studied. The "5-free" to "13-free" samples had
lower levels in general than unlabeled or "3-free" samples, the
study team notes.
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TPHP, which is used as a plasticizer and flame retardant in a number
of consumer products, was found in 40 percent of the samples. It was
detected in 12 of the 27 products that did not list it as an
ingredient.
The research team was pleased to find that DnBP wasn't in any of the
samples, and TPHP seemed to be in lower concentrations than reported
in previous studies.
At the same time, the products with lower TPHP levels tended to have
higher levels of didiethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), a
hormone-disrupting chemical and possible carcinogen that was banned
from cosmetics in the EU at the same time as DnBP, the authors note.
Overall, Young's team concludes that label contents can be defined
differently by different brands, the ingredient exclusions are
usually not validated by a third party, and new label types are
often not consistent with the preceding labels in terms of what
ingredients are excluded.
"It's important for consumers to understand that 'n-free' can mean
different things to different companies," said Heather Stapleton of
Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, who wasn't involved in
the study.
"More research is warranted to understand the exposure levels that
consumers are receiving," Stapleton said in an email. "It's
important to know what these labels mean and how they relate to
chemical exposure."
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/2CEwKKQ Environmental Science and Technology,
online October 10, 2018.
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