Challenges in Designing Product-use Surveys for Assessing Consumer Exposure via Personal Care Products: Case Studies from Switzerland and the Netherlands

摘要

To estimate exposure to potentially harmful ingredients contained in personal care products (PCPs) and assess their risks to our health, access to reliable PCP use data is needed. Properly designed and conducted PCP use surveys are powerful tools for the collection of such data. Two PCP use surveys have recently been carried out in the German-speaking part of Switzerland and the Netherlands. In the former study, PCP use and co-use patterns of eight leave-on PCP categories were determined by a postal questionnaire (1196 respondents; ages 0-97 years), which included, for the first time in Europe, children below the age of 12, who may be more vulnerable to certain adverse effects of some PCP ingredients. Apart from the use frequency also most frequently used products were inquired. In the Netherlands, on the other hand, an attractive alternative to traditional postal survey was used i.e., a web-based questionnaire (516 respondents; ages 18-71 years). Respondents however still received a letter containing a link to the questionnaire, which they had to type in the web-browser. The use frequencies and co-use patterns of 32 PCP categories were investigated, along with used amounts (by photos) and most frequently used brands for products. The objective of this presentation is to compare the results of the two surveys and discuss the use of surrogate PCP use data from other countries. Moreover, the questionnaire designs and means of administration will be evaluated in the context of their suitability for assessing adequate exposure factors for consumer exposure modelling. Possible enhancements that could be included into future studies will be discussed.