Abstract (EN):
Galaxolide is the most used fragrance since the early 1990s, and it has been
largely detected in environmental and biological matrices. This polycyclic musk is present
in almost all of our daily products, so the risk of human exposure is substantial, as it had
been proved by its detection in human tissues and fluids. Due to the lack of information
about the concentrations found in consumer products, monitoring data is needed for
exposure assessment purposes. Dermal contact, mostly by personal care products, seems to
be the major route of human exposure to galaxolide, and, due to the immaturity of young
children¿s skin, exposure consequences can be worse in this population. The main
objective of this study was to evaluate galaxolide levels in personal care products used by
children of Oporto (Portugal), aged 0¿5 years, and relate it with consumer habits.
Consumer patterns were obtained through 250 questionnaires to caregivers of Oporto
children. The 79 most used products were extracted by a dispersive solid phase extraction
methodology known as QuEChERS and galaxolide was determined by High Performance
Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection. The concentrations ranged
between 0.001 ± 0.001 mg·kg¿1
, on a baby wipe, and 300.480 ± 8.819 mg·kg¿1
, on glycerin
soap, which may correspond to an estimated daily dermal exposure of 277.10 ± 0.02 µg·day¿ on the population of Oporto children. This value is in the range of the results observed for
adults, although no information of toxicological risk for children is available.
Language:
English
Type (Professor's evaluation):
Scientific
No. of pages:
17