Engineered nanoparticles in some cosmetic powders clump together making them more likely to lodge in upper respiratory airways rather than to reach deep into the lungs, according to a team of US researchers.
The team, led by Gediminas Mainelis from the State University of New Jersey, found nanoparticles in five out of six cosmetics products tested. Three of the six products – a moisturiser, a blusher, and a loose-powder sunscreen – were billed by the manufacturers as “nanopowders”. Labelling on the other three make-up powders contained no reference to nanoparticles.
The researchers predicted that the nanoparticles would deposit in the alveolar regions of the lung. Yet when they applied the cosmetics to a mannequin’s head equipped with a ‘nose’ to collect air samples they discovered that the nanoparticles clumped together to form aggregate particles. These larger particles are more likely to remain in the upper airways than travel deep into the lungs, say the researchers.
The research could “potentially lead to different health effects than expected based on the current understanding of nanoparticle behaviour and toxicology studies for the alveolar region,” they say.
The research is published in Environmental Health Perspectives.
Fonte: Chemical Watch
