Benzene in cosmetic products: Non cancer and cancer risk assessment

Cosmetics are widely used products that include luxury beauty items like makeup and perfumes as well as everyday hygiene products like toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant, and soap. Most cosmetics are used by adults, although there are some products, such as sunscreen and shampoo, which are also used by children. Although benzene is not intentionally added in cosmetics, it may potentially be present in trace amounts as a contaminant or leftover solvent in finished goods. IARC has classified benzene carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) based on sufficient evidence that it causes acute myeloid leukaemia in adults. A risk assessment was performed to evaluate non-cancer and cancer human health risks of benzene in leave-on cosmetic products (deodorant and sunscreen) through dermal and inhalation pathways. Quantitative risk assessment estimated potential systemic exposure doses. The non-cancer risk assessment of benzene in cosmetics resulted in a safety margin greater than 100. The probability of lifetime cancer risk resulting from dermal and inhalation exposure to benzene from cosmetics was 2.4 × 10^-6 i.e. lower than an excess cancer risk of 10^-5 used as a World Health Organization benchmark. Given that it is highly improbable that a consumer would use benzene-contaminated products on a daily basis for the rest of their life, the study's findings indicate that there is no evidence of an elevated risk of non-cancer effects and minimal cancer risks in humans from exposure to benzene in deodorant and sunscreen.