Survey and Health Assessment of the exposure of 2 year-olds to chemical substances in Consumer Products

Two-year-olds are exposed to many chemical substances in daily life. Furthermore, they are particularly susceptible due to their physical size (large surface area/small volume). The primary focus will be on consumer products, but because the 2 year-old’s exposure to chemical substances involves not only food products but also food contact materials and articles, focus has also been placed on these sources. Exposure from indoor air and dust has also been evaluated based on existing measurements. Several endocrine disruptors were selected and focussed on in the risk assessment. They were selected for their known endocrine disrupting effects in animal studies, and an anticipated exposure of 2 year-old children to these substances through food products, indoor air and dust, or consumer products. The selected substances are for example some phthalates, parabenes, azolfungicides and bisphenol A. 12 product groups have been surveyed and analysis for content and migration of the selected endocrine disruptors have been made on 5 products among each of the 10 product groups. Based on the assumptions made in the report, it can be concluded that:  A few exposures to a high content of an endocrine disruptor, such as that of DBP in rubber clogs may result in a critical risk for the 2 year-old. The amounts that 2 year-olds absorb, in particular from the phthalate DBP (mostly from foods) and dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs (mostly from foods, and partly from indoor air and dust), constitute a risk for anti-androgen disruptions to the endocrine system. The amounts that 2 year-olds absorb from the parabens propylparaben and butylparaben, in particular, can constitute a risk for oestrogen-like disruptions of the endocrine system. This contribution originates predominantly from cosmetic products such as oil-based creams/moisturising creams/lotions and sunscreen