By shampooing or using deodorant, we also contribute to increasing air pollution in our cities. A new study has found that emissions of siloxane, a very common ingredient in personal care products, are higher than those produced by cars during rush hours.
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By shampooing or using deodorant, we also contribute to increasing air pollution in our cities. A new study has found that emissions of siloxane, a very common ingredient in personal care products, are higher than those produced by cars during rush hour.
Each of us leaves behind chemicals, both from car exhaust pipes and from products used on skin and hair. The siloxane emissions, in particular, are comparable in terms of magnitude to those of the main components of vehicle exhausts, such as benzene, from rush hour traffic in Boulder, Colorado.
This was revealed by new research conducted by CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences) and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).
The study, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, is in line with other recent findings that emissions from personal care products can contribute significantly to urban air pollution.
“We have found a pattern of emissions that coincides with human activity: people apply these products in the morning, leave their homes and go to work or school. The peak of emissions occurs during these hours ", he said lead author Matthew Coggon, a CIRES scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder who works at the NOAA research laboratory.
Blame the siloxanes
Il Silossano D5, short for decamethylcyclopentasiloxane, is added to personal care products such as shampoos and lotions but also hair gels and deodorants, to give a smooth and silky feel. Once applied it evaporates quickly.
It belongs to a class of chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOC). In the air, sunlight can cause the VOC react with nitrogen oxides and other compounds to form ozone and particulate matter - two types of pollution known to have harmful effects on air quality and human health.
Coggon and colleagues measured VOCs from the roof of NOAA's research laboratory in December 2015 and January 2017, and from a mobile laboratory in February 2016. They also monitored the concentrations of traffic-related compounds, including benzene, linked to the exhaust. vehicles.
"We were looking at the air, monitoring all the species our instrument was sensitive to - about 150 compounds," Coggon said. From that chemical soup, a compound caught their attention. "We saw a big spike in the data but we didn't know what it was",
Coggon's team initially speculated that it was an automobile chemical. But Patrick Veres, NOAA scientist and co-author of the study thought of siloxane. Since benzene and benzene weren't from the same source, the research team still linked both chemicals to one particular human behavior: commuting.
By studying the data hour by hour, scientists realized that the siloxane emissions they peaked in the morning, when people were using the most personal care productse and went out by car or bus. At that moment the emissions increased while during the day those of both chemicals decreased and then rose again at the end of the working day. In addition, the evening peak of siloxane emissions was lower than in the morning, as the products had largely evaporated.
The graph shows the emissions of siloxane D5 evaporating from personal care products.
The study is part of wider research aimed at demonstrating that emissions from industrial and consumer products are also important sources of air pollution.
"This study provides further evidence that while VOC emissions from transportation have decreased, other sources, including personal care products, are making important contributions to urban air pollution," McDonald added.
How to recognize siloxanes on labels
Il EU regulation number 35 of 2018 has regulated the use of these substances contained in cosmetic products that are eliminated with water after their application. They are dangerous because they are released into the aquatic environment before their evaporation.
According to the provisions of item 70 of the Regulation, in Europe "the placing on the market of cosmetic products to be eliminated with water in concentration equal to or greater than 0,1% by weight of one or the other substance (siloxane D4 and D5, editor's note) after January 31, 2020 ".
The Commission has therefore introduced the limit of 0,1% effectively banning D4 and D5, since, in order to fulfill their function in cosmetic products to be eliminated with water, they must be present in higher concentrations.
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Francesca Mancuso