A few months ago we examined the question of whether your cosmetics were poisoning you. In this article we de-bunked the claim that you absorbed 5 pounds of damaging chemicals a year. This is just nonsense and not supported by science.
However, we recently found some published research about how much chemical exposure the average person gets each day from common products. Remember, this is how much you’re EXPOSED which is different than how much your body absorbs. How do you compare to the average person?
Chemical exposure per day from cosmetics
1. Lipstick: 0.024 g
2. Spray perfume: 0.53 g
3. Liquid foundation: 0.67 g
4. Solid antiperspirant: 0.79
5. Face cream: 2.05 g
6. Hairspray: 3.57 g
7. Skin lotion: 8.70 g
8. Shampoo: 12.8 g
9. Body wash: 14.5 g
Cosmetic chemical absorption
So, if you use all of these products every single day for a year, you are exposed to over 35 pounds of chemicals. Of course, many of these products are mainly water so if you subtract out the water, your non-water chemical exposure is about 5 pounds in a year.
That would mean if it were true that you absorbed 5 pounds of chemicals from cosmetics each year, your body would be absorbing everything put on your body. We know this isn’t true since we see bubbles washed down the drain and we have to remove make-up every night.
How much do you use in a year?
One other thing that I find fascinating about this study is how much product people use in a year. If you’re like the average person, in one year you will go through about
20 bottles of Bumble and Bumble Shampoo
14 bottles of Kai body lotion
Of course, this is the average person who uses these brands. I wonder how many of the Beauty Brains community are average.
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Hi! I’m not sure I understand the math. Your chart lists “Chemical Exposure per day from cosmetics” that totals more than 35 pounds. But then you say to subtract the water in cosmetics (to make it around 5 pounds). Does that mean that, in your “Chemical Exposure per day from cosmetics” list, water is considered a chemical? I was under the impression that the list only measured chemicals, not other innocuous ingredients. Thanks for explaining it!
The study measured the amount of actual product that people were using. Most of these products contain mostly water. For example, shampoo is 90% water.
So, in the list “Chemical Exposure per Day from Cosmetics”, water is included as a chemical. That’s why I recalculated to remove the water at give only the amount of chemicals. (Incidentally, that is 35 pounds in a year not a day).
i don’t know if i’m average – but i do know that i buy liter bottles of shampoo and usually go through about 1 and 1/4 of those yearly… this crazy grams/metric system stuff does not help me figure it out.
This is such an interesting post. Many organic skincare lines are claiming that over 60%+ of what we put on our skin, is absorbed into our bodies. An organic skincare line Juice Beauty claims this… I am really curious about the subject of deodorants and antiperspirants. Do they work differently than other lotions we might put on our skin? Why is everyone so concerned about these? And finally, just because we see soap or bubbles washing down the drain, doesn’t mean that some of the chemicals aren’t being absorbed into the body. What about what we can’t see? Thanks! Jen
please explain then why the term ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS has been biochemically listed by various health authorities?
Endocrine disruptors such as Parabens.. These are found in almost every bottle of shampoo.
Our skin absorbs chemicals and it gets into our bloodstream!
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