New research proves the impact of skincare on your body’s chemical load.
A new study by researchers has just been published in the peer reviewed journal Environment International and it proves that making changes to daily personal care products can significantly change the body’s chemical load. When chemical laden products like shampoo, soap, toothpaste, sunscreen and lip balm are swapped out for cleaner options, the level of harmful chemicals showing up in urine is significantly less.
It hits home: what we put on our skin does make its way into our body. The good news is these reductions in chemical load were noticeable in only five days!
What did the study do?
A group of 103 women aged 18-30 in France were asked to stop using their usual daily skincare and personal care products and were provided with alternatives that were free from common chemicals found in everyday products like phthalates, glycol ethers and phenols. Their urine was tested before and on the last day of the intervention. Samples showed some chemicals were significantly reduced in the women’s urine on the final day. So, in just 5 days they were able to modify their chemical exposure.
Before the study, the women were using anywhere between 7 and 19 personal care products daily. That’s 12 products on average which means 12 different times during the day for potential toxin and chemical exposure just from personal care products alone.
This is in line with the reporting by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) which suggests that on average, women use 13 products a day with 114 unique ingredients. Men use up to 11 and about 10% of adults use more than 25 products daily.
The EWG study also found that the average adult is exposed to 15 fragrance chemicals a day and “fragrance” is an umbrella term because it can hide up to 4,000 different chemicals including hormone-disrupting phthalates.
Back to the French study, during the intervention stage, women were given specific personal care products to use that included shampoo, soap, deodorant, toothpaste, sunscreen, lip balm, jojoba oil and hydroalcoholic gel (hand sanitiser). These products were selected based on two criteria:
- They did not contain the target chemicals: synthetic phenols, parabens, phthalates and glycol ethers
- They did not contain perfume or fragrance
The study assessed urine for 11 types of phenols, 2 glycol ethers and 16 phthalates. Traces of these toxins were found in most participants’ urine in the pre-intervention phase (when they were just using their normal personal care products). These chemicals are added to formulas as preservatives, antibacterial agents and stabilisers.
The good news is, they quickly left the body when usage was reduced.
The study found significant drops in urinary concentrations of some of these chemicals in the very short time span of 5 days:
- Bisphenol A – reduced by 39%
- Methylparaben – reduced by 30%
- Phenoxyacetic acid – reduced by 64%
- Monoethyl phthalate MEP (metabolite of diethyl phthalate and common in synthetic fragrance) – reduced by 22%
- Propylparabens – notable decrease in frequency, became undetectable in many women
These chemicals have been linked to adverse health effects in several studies.
Bisphenol A is sometimes used as an antioxidant or stabiliser, but it is not commonly included in ingredient labels. It shows up in formulas via contamination due to leaching from plastic packaging. You may recognise it as its more commonly referred acronym – BPA – as many plastics are referred to being “BPA free” due to findings it, as well as parabens & phthalates, are endocrine disrupting chemicals.
Other studies have also shown phthalates, benzophenones, parabens and chlorinated phenols in nearly all participants urine, only to see it reduced in a short time frame when certain chemicals in products, especially fragrance, were avoided.
It all adds up: are we really absorbing the truth about “safe” amounts?
These chemicals are still widely used in personal care products because health authorities still consider them safe in small and regulated quantities. So, manufacturers still include them in formulas at the low, regulated concentration. However, when we consider that on average women are using 12 products a day and men 10, if all these products contain only the regulated amount, what does that add up to in an individual body? Possibly much higher than the “small, safe” amount.
It is also the case that one product can contain the regulated amount of multiple endocrine disrupting chemicals which allows for combination effects. As another study pointed out, “theoretically safe doses of individual chemicals cannot be guaranteed to be safe in actual exposure scenarios to chemical mixtures.” In other words,
when we are exposed to chemicals throughout the day in multiple products, each with multiple ingredients, the safety level may no longer be technically safe for us.
The positive: you have the power to change your chemical load
As we saw, the level of toxins showing up in urine reduced significantly when the women started using everyday personal care products that did not contain these chemicals.
While regulation may still allow for these chemicals to be included in products, as consumers we get to decide what we put on our body. We can empower ourselves by making different choices based on what an ingredient list looks like and by using fewer, safer products to quickly reduce the burden of these chemicals on our bodies.
This can feel overwhelming, especially when we don’t know what every single ingredient on the back of a package is or if it is safe or not. But every chemical input counts, so small changes, one at a time, can really add up.
Some simple ways to start:
Not every single item in your bathroom cabinet needs to be chucked out and swapped all at once, look at the items you use on the largest parts of your body – body wash, shampoo, or the products that stay on all day like deodorant and body lotion might be good places to begin.
Look at ingredients lists and get to know which ingredients you really don’t want to see on the back of a package; we cover the main ones below. If you can’t pronounce an ingredient or have no idea what it is, that might also be a sign. Look for natural leading formulas with ingredients that sound familiar, like butters (shea, mango, cacao), plant oils (e.g. coconut, avocado, olive, jojoba) and extracts like manuka honey, calendula, aloe vera and other fruit, vegetable and flower extracts.
Look to companies that are calling out ingredients and are happy to discuss and share information on ingredients. There are many brands saying they have “natural” or “clean” ingredients, but these are often broad claims that only include some of their ingredients, for example adding a couple of plant-extracts to a formula and calling it “natural,” or including chemicals that are regulated but as we have seen, not ideal when we add everything up.
What to avoid?
Fragrance - Avoid anything that simply lists “fragrance” or “parfum” without specifying where the fragrance is from or what it contains. As we know from above, the term “fragrance” can include a multitude of different ingredients that do not need to be disclosed in the ingredient list.
Parabens – often have the precursor Methyl, Propyl or Butyl, usually used as preservatives to prevent mould and bacteria but research demonstrates they are hormone disrupters.
Phthalates – DBP (Dibutyl Phthalate), DEP (Diethyl Phthalate), DEHP (Di(2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate). These are added to help fragrance last longer, to stop nail polish from cracker, to help other ingredients emulsify and improve spreadability of lotions and hair products. For the formula, not for our bodies evidently.
Sulfates – SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate), SLES (Sodium Laureth Sulfate), usually used as foaming agents in body wases and cleansers. Look for gentle ingredients like coco glucoside, decyl glucoside or sodium cocoyl glutamate which are plant derived.
Oxybenzone – a chemical UV filter used in sunscreens. Shown to act as an endocrine disrupter and found in the bloodstream. Also, can be harmful to aquatic life. Look for mineral sunscreen instead that uses Zinc oxide.
Formaldehyde – used as a preservative and can be displayed using multiple names on ingredient lists. It is a known carcinogen and can cause severe skin irritation. Look for natural preservatives like Vitamin E (Tocopherol), naturally derived Salicylic acid or Potassium sorbate.
Petroleum and mineral oil – byproducts of petroleum and oil often used in body balms, lip balms and lotions. Look for natural oils and butters instead (e.g. shea butter, almond, oil, macadamia oil etc) Petroleum gets listed under many guises on ingredients lists, look out for:
- Butanol and anything with “butyl” in the name
- Propyl-containing words
- Phthalates
- Parfum or fragrance
- Methanol
- Parabens
- Petrolatum
- Mineral oil
- Petroleum jelly
- Paraffin (paraffin wax)
- Toluene
- Benzene
- DEA (diethanolamine)
- PEG (polyethylene glycol)
- MEA (ethanolamine)
- EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid)
If we swap out one product at a time, eventually we can end up with a clean routine that we don’t have to continually think about. It might seem like a bit of effort upfront, but once we find the right shampoo, toothpaste, body wash, sunscreen, skincare, deodorant, natural fragrance, they will just become our normal routine, and we won’t have to think about it.
Sources:
Alnuqaydan A. M. (2024). The dark side of beauty: an in-depth analysis of the health hazards and toxicological impact of synthetic cosmetics and personal care products. Frontiers in public health, 12, 1439027. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1439027
Edwards, L., Connolly, C. L., Dodson, R. E., Cardona, B., Franklin, E. T., Robinson Flint, J., Navarro, S., Williams, A., Zota, A. R., & Shamasunder, B. (2025). Examining the Role of Self-Reported Product Selection Strategies in Shifting Chemical Exposures Among Black Women and Latinas: Lessons from the Taking Stock Study. Environmental Justice, 0(0).
Jala, A., Varghese, B., Dutta, R., Adela, R., & Borkar, R. M. (2022). Levels of parabens and bisphenols in personal care products and urinary concentrations in Indian young adult women: Implications for human exposure and health risk assessment. Chemosphere, 297, 134028. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134028
Jovanovic, N., Bright, F., Thomsen, C., Garlantezec, R., Rocabois, A., McEachan, R. R., Yang, T. C., Sakhi, A. K., Chevrier, C., Mathy, S., Slama, R., Lyon-Caen, S., Vrijheid, M., & Philippat, C. (2026). Levers to decrease exposure to harmful chemicals: the case of Personal Care Products and cosmetics. Environment international, 211, 110243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2026.110243
https://www.ewg.org/research/survey-finds-use-personal-care-products-2004-what-means-your-health
https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/2004/12/exposures-add-survey-results