11.2 Personal Care Products: Environmental Occurrence and Effects

Personal care products (PCPs) like soaps, shampoos, and cosmetics contain ingredients that serve various functions. These products enter the environment through direct release, wastewater treatment plants, landfill leachate, and agricultural runoff.

PCPs distribute widely in aquatic and terrestrial environments, impacting ecosystems. They can cause endocrine disruption, antimicrobial resistance, and bioaccumulation in organisms. The mixture of PCPs in the environment may have combined effects exceeding individual impacts.

Personal Care Products: Environmental Occurrence

Definition of personal care products

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• Personal Care Products (PCPs) used for hygiene, cosmetics, appearance alteration encompass soaps, shampoos, lotions, cosmetics, fragrances, sunscreens
• Common ingredients serve various functions:
  • Surfactants clean and foam (sodium lauryl sulfate, cocamidopropyl betaine)
  • Preservatives extend shelf life (parabens, formaldehyde-releasing compounds)
  • UV filters protect skin (oxybenzone, avobenzone, titanium dioxide)
  • Fragrances provide scents (synthetic musks, essential oils)
  • Antimicrobials inhibit bacteria (triclosan, triclocarban)
  • Plasticizers improve flexibility (phthalates, bisphenol A)

Environmental entry routes for PCPs

• Direct release through bathing, swimming, rinsing products down drains
• Wastewater treatment plants incompletely remove PCPs, release residuals in effluent
• Landfill leachate from disposed containers seeps into groundwater
• Atmospheric deposition via volatilization and air current transport
• Agricultural runoff from biosolid fertilizers and reclaimed wastewater irrigation

Environmental Impact and Effects

Distribution of PCPs in environment

• Aquatic environments:
  • Surface waters contain ng/L to μg/L concentrations (rivers, lakes, oceans)
  • Sediments accumulate hydrophobic compounds
• Terrestrial environments:
  • Soil contaminated through biosolids and irrigation
  • Plants uptake and accumulate certain PCPs
• Biota:
  • Fish and aquatic organisms bioaccumulate in tissues
  • Terrestrial animals exposed through food chain and environment
• Drinking water contains trace amounts of PCPs
• Air carries volatile PCP compounds indoors and outdoors

Ecological impacts of PCPs

• Endocrine disruption interferes with hormone systems (triclosan, parabens, UV filters)
• Antimicrobial resistance develops in bacteria, threatens human and environmental health
• Bioaccumulation of lipophilic PCPs in tissues leads to potential biomagnification
• Mixture toxicity combines effects of multiple PCPs, potentially exceeding individual impacts
• Aquatic organisms experience:
  • Altered fish reproductive behavior
  • Amphibian developmental abnormalities
  • Reduced invertebrate growth and survival
• Terrestrial impacts include:
  • Soil microbial community changes
  • Plant growth and development effects
• Indirect ecological effects:
  • Food web disruption
  • Ecosystem function alterations