Age, cosmetics use related to levels of synthetic musk chemicals in blood.

Hutter, HP, P Wallner, H Moshammer, W Hartl, R Sattelberger, G Lorbeer and M Kundi. 2009. Synthetic musks in blood of healthy young adults: Relationship to cosmetics use. Science of the Total Environment 407:4821-4825.

The more perfumes and body lotions that are used, the higher the levels of synthetic fragrances – called polycyclic musks – that are in the blood, reports a new study that examined college students from Austria.

Levels of another group of the artificial musk fragrances found in personal care products – called nitromusks – appear to be declining in the Europeans since their ban in some countries in the 1990s.

The polycyclic musks were found at about 70 times higher levels in the students than the nitromusks. A younger age and use of lotions and perfumes were predictive of the polycyclic musk levels.

This is one of only a few recent studies that have measured levels of polycyclic musks in human blood, even though they have widespread and increasing use in personal care products. Little is known about if and how exposure is changing over time with the increased use of polycyclic musks and the declining use of nitromusks.

Artificial musks are commonly added to personal care products to improve their smell. The chemicals can concentrate in fat and resist breakdown during wastewater treatment and in the environment. For these reasons, synthetic musks are found in human breast milk and fatty tissues and in the environment, including fish.

The polycyclic musks are added to personal products – such as lotions, deodorants, perfumes, cosmetics and others – and household products, such as laundry detergents. Some of the more common types are galaxolide and tonalide. Their production is increasing globally after other types of musks – such as musk xylene, a nitromusk - were banned by some European countries in the 1990s because of their presence in wildlife and toxicity.

Some musks are known to affect reproduction in rats and fish and can damage the DNA in cells.  However, their effects on humans are not known.  It is clear though that humans are being exposed to these synthetic fragrances.

This study measured levels of 11 different nitro and polycyclic musks in the blood of 55 female and 45 male students (ages 19 to 43) from Austria. The researchers measured musk levels in the blood and compared them to body mass index, skin type (oily, normal or dry), fish consumption and use of cosmetics. Surveys were used to determine the numbers of times the students ate fish and used lotion, deodorant, perfume, shampoo, air fresheners and hair sprays.

Six synthetic musks were found in the blood samples. Musk xylene and musk ketone were the most common nitromusks (in 45 percent and 4 percent of the samples, respectively) and the highest respective levels measured were 60 and 67 parts per trillion. Higher levels of these musks were found in people with more skin surface area. Levels of musk xylene were slightly lower and levels of musk ketone were much lower than what was measured in the blood of women in Germany in the mid 1990s.

In contrast, the polycyclic musk galaxolide was found in 83 percent of the students and at levels up to 4,100 parts per trillion. The second most common polycyclic musk was tonalide and it was found in 16 of the individuals at levels up to 800 parts per trillion.

One other study has shown similar or lower concentrations of polycyclic musks in blood samples of Germans in the late 1990s. For these fragrances, higher levels were seen in younger people and those that used more body lotions and perfumes.

The researchers report two main findings in the August issue of the journal Science of the Total Environment. First, the more popular of these musks can be found at high levels in people that use a lot of personal care products. Second, there is some evidence that nitromusks are declining in people in Europe, most likely because they are being used less in cosmetics.