In this study, nine phthalates and six parabens were determined in 170 personal care products (PCPs) (41 rinse-off and 109 leave-on), including 20 baby care products collected from Albany, New York. The results showed that phthalates were less frequently found in rinse-off PCPs but were more frequently found in perfumes (detection frequency of 100% for diethyl phthalate [DEP], 67% for dibutyl phthalate [DBP]), skin toners (90% for DEP), and nail polishes (90% for DBP). Parabens were found in 40% of rinse-off products and 60% of leave-on products. The highest concentrations of DEP, DBP, methyl- (MeP), ethyl- (EtP), propyl- (PrP), and butyl parabens (BuP) were on the order of 1000 μg per gram of the product. The calculated dermal intake of phthalates from PCPs was lower for infants and toddlers than for adult females. The calculated maximum daily exposure dose of MeP, EtP, and PrP from PCPs ranged between 58.6 and 766 μg/kg-bw/day for infants and toddlers, which was 3 times higher than that calculated for adult females. PCPs are an important source of human exposure to parabens; the contribution of PCPs to phthalate exposure is low, except for DEP. Environ Sci Technol, November 2013. PMID: 24261694
