GabyA team of scientists from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland has confirmed that deodorants and other personal hygiene products can pollute the environment just as much as street smog. These products are made using a variety of ingredients that mask body odor, prevent sweating, moisturize the skin, and provide us with pleasant scents. To achieve this, the cosmetics industry employs hundreds of chemical substances. What’s concerning is not only that some of these chemicals pose a direct threat to our health, but even those deemed less problematic can react with other substances in our environment, creating new pollutants with unknown toxicity.
What did the researchers discover? The scientists purchased a spray deodorant, hand cream, roll-on deodorant, perfume, and hair spray, and then conducted a series of experiments with them. After studying the emissions from these popular personal care products and the reactions they undergo in typical indoor environments, the researchers were taken aback.
They identified over 200 different types of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Some of these can be considered harmless, especially at low concentrations. However, many of these compounds react quickly, forming secondary organic aerosols that cannot be labeled as safe.
“Some molecules create new particles that can coalesce into larger particles capable of effectively settling in our lungs,” noted Dušan Ličina, the lead author of the study. “In my opinion, we still don’t fully understand the impact of these pollutants on health, but they could be more harmful than we think, especially since they will enter our breathing zone,” he added.
In many modern homes and offices, there is at least one or two sources of ozone molecules, typically emitted by printers and copiers, and ironically, air purifiers. Even in places without ozone-producing equipment, many outdoor pollutants will react with sunlight to form ozone, which then seeps indoors through windows and ventilation systems. While ozone may look similar to the oxygen our bodies need to breathe, the third oxygen atom in ozone makes it relatively unstable. This allows it to easily react with volatile organic compounds, such as monoterpenes, as reported by Science Alert.
In all cases except one—the roll-on deodorant—the particles produced created a genuine smog. As for the rate of particle growth, it was significantly higher than what is typically reported by experts studying air quality. According to the scientists, the realization that we can create such diverse types of pollution every time we style our hair or spray deodorant should be alarming. “We will need to reduce our reliance on these products or, if possible, replace them with more natural alternatives that contain aromatic compounds with low chemical reactivity,” Mr. Ličina remarked. The findings of the study were published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters.
