Decorative cosmetics and skin care products contribute significantly to short-chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylates exposure
By Ziwei Wang, Guanxiang Yuan, Mengxin Sun, Wenhong Fan, Xiarui Fan, Baiyu Lai, Xinrui Leng, Guomao Zheng, and Zhaomin Dong
J Hazard Mater
June 5, 2025
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.138846
Research on dermal exposure of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in personal care products is limited. Here, we investigated the permeation of 14 PFAS using in vitro 3D-human skin equivalents (3D-HSE). Results revealed that perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) exhibited the highest cumulative permeation, while perfluorotetradecanoic acid (PFTeDA) showed the lowest. Increasing the exposure concentration from 312.5 ng/cm to 1562.5 ng/cm has triggered a growth of 4.4-11.4 % in dermal absorption. The steady-state flux and apparent permeation coefficient ranged from 0.7 to 11.2 ng/cm·h and 7.0 × 10-1.1 × 10 cm/h, respectively. The estimated absorption using 3D-HSE is close to that using in vivo rat model (p = 0.37). Subsequently, we summarized the median concentrations of PFAS in various decorative cosmetics and skin care products were 0.6-8.3 ng/g and 0.2-8.0 ng/g, respectively, and thus daily intakes of individual PFAS through dermal exposure ranged from 0.01 to 0.8 ng/kg/day. The total daily intake of short-chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylates via dermal pathway, which was estimated based on the sum of dermal exposure from both decorative cosmetics and skin care products, may exceed that from diet. Dermal exposure contributes significantly to PFOA intake for individuals who regularly use decorative cosmetics and skin care products, supporting recent regulation of PFAS used in personal care products.
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