Occurrence of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Cosmetics and Personal Care Products

Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are highly fluorinated aliphatic substances that contain a perfluoralkyl moiety (CnF2n+1). This moiety imparts a unique suite of characteristics onto the PFAS such as hydrophobicity, lipophobicity, chemical and thermal stability. These characteristics make PFAS extremely useful in a wide range of industrial and commercial applications such as textiles and leather, paper and food packaging, fire-fighting foam, and cosmetics. Concern has been raised about PFAS because of their environmental persistence, global occurrence, and presence in human blood. Laboratory animal toxicology studies have found an association between PFAS and tumor development, developmental and hormonal effects, and immunotoxicity. The goal of this project was to expand and provide further evidence of the potential exposure to PFAS through cosmetic and personal care products.