A survey and health assessment of cosmetic products for children

Summary and conclusions
Background and purpose
A number of the cosmetic products, especially within the ranges of shampoo,
body shampoo and soap, are marketed as products for children. The
packaging materials of the products are often very colourful and may be
designed as for instance cartoon figures. This means that in some cases the
products may also be used as toys.
Based on the assumption that this market is increasing the Danish
Environmental Protection Agency started this survey in the spring of 2006
with the purpose to map cosmetic products for children marketed on the
Danish market.
The purpose of the survey was to get an overview of the chemical substances
that the products contain and the constituents which may be problematic for
children’s health. The focus of the project was on allergenic fragrances and
preservatives.
Finally, this project has had the purpose to test the packaging material for the
cosmetic products for children for a content of possible problematic
substances. Focus has been on packaging materials designed as special figures
and selected packaging materials are tested for a content of heavy metals and
phthalates among other things.
The survey
The project is conducted by FORCE Technology, Department of
Sustainability and Management, who has been in charge of the survey, the
selection of products for analysis as well as the health assessment. The
analyses of the constituents of the products were conducted by Eurofins,
while the analyses of the constituents of the packing materials were conducted
by FORCE Technology, Department of Chemical Analysis.
The survey of the cosmetic products for children was completed in the period
from April to June 2006 by shopping in all kinds of shops selling cosmetic
products for children. Shops as chemists, toy stores, 10-kroners shops, 1000
Things shops, convenience stores, supermarkets, bookstores, children’s
clothes stores, hairdressers, department stores and some other shops were
visited – mainly in the northern part of Zealand and in the Copenhagen area.
Furthermore, products were ordered via the Internet and declarations of
content being available via the Internet have also been used in the survey.
Main conclusions
The project shows that cosmetic products for children in the age of 3-14 years
represent a large market. The volume of the yearly sale of cosmetic products
for children is not investigated but the number of different products shows
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