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.