Formaldehyde and Formaldehyde Releasing Preservatives in Personal Care Products Used by Black Women and Latinas

Formaldehyde and formaldehyde releasing preservatives (FRPs) are used in personal care products (PCPs) to prevent microbial growth and extend the shelf life. Several countries and U.S. states have banned or restricted the use of these chemicals due to carcinogenicity and other health concerns. However, the prevalence of these chemicals in PCPs used by the public, particularly by Black women and Latinas, remains poorly documented. We examined the prevalence of formaldehyde and FRPs listed as ingredients on PCPs from the Taking Stock Study (TSS), a community-engaged study in which 70 Black women and Latinas in South Los Angeles logged their PCP use with a smartphone application. We contextualized our results using EPA’s Chemical and Products Database (CPDat), a public ingredient database. More than half of the TSS participants (53%) reported using at least one PCP with formaldehyde or FRPs despite only 4% of TSS PCPs and 8% of CPDat PCPs listing formaldehyde and/or FRPs as ingredients. We found formaldehyde and FRPs listed in frequently used products such as lotions and cleansers. The most common FRP was 1,3-dimethylol-5,5-dimethylhydantoin (DMDM) hydantoin. These results could inform the types of regulations needed to protect the U.S. population from adverse health risks due to formaldehyde exposure from PCP use.