Personal care products use during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: Environmental and public health impact assessment using wastewater-based epidemiology

Nicola Ceolotto; Kishore Jagadeesan; Like Xu; Richard Standerwick; Megan Robertson; Ruth Barden; Julie Barnett; Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2024.122624

Personal care products use during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: Environmental and public health impact assessment using wastewater-based epidemiology

Water Res. 2024 Oct 17;268(Pt A):122624. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.122624. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Nicola Ceolotto¹, Kishore Jagadeesan², Like Xu³, Richard Standerwick⁴, Megan Robertson⁵, Ruth Barden⁶, Julie Barnett⁷, Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK; Institute for Sustainability, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK; Centre of Excellence in Water Based Early Warning Systems for Health Protection, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
² Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK; Centre of Excellence in Water Based Early Warning Systems for Health Protection, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
³ Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
⁴ Wessex Water, Bath BA2 7WW, UK; Environment Agency, Horizon House, Deanery Road, Bristol, UK.
⁵ Centre of Excellence in Water Based Early Warning Systems for Health Protection, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK; Wessex Water, Bath BA2 7WW, UK.
⁶ Institute for Sustainability, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK; Centre of Excellence in Water Based Early Warning Systems for Health Protection, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK; Wessex Water, Bath BA2 7WW, UK.
⁷ Centre of Excellence in Water Based Early Warning Systems for Health Protection, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK; Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
⁸ Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK; Institute for Sustainability, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK; Centre of Excellence in Water Based Early Warning Systems for Health Protection, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 39490091
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.122624

Abstract

The recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic had profound consequences on people's wellbeing, societies and economy worldwide. This manuscript discusses public exposure to chemicals of concern in personal care products (parabens and benzophenones) during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. These were monitored for two years in four catchments (two cities and two towns) in South West England accounting for >1 million people. Results showed slightly higher usage of personal care products in small towns than big cities. Major changes in usage of parabens (p values < 0.05) were observed during national lockdowns (NLs). This is likely due to increased awareness towards personal hygiene. In contrast, benzophenones showed seasonal trends; there were higher correlations with sunshine prevalence and temperature rather than NLs reflecting their usage in sunscreen products. Estimation of per capita intake of parabens and benzophenones using WBE revealed lower intake than the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) established by the EFSA; however, the metabolism factor used was considered putative due to the lack of pharmacokinetic studies. Prediction of environmental exposure revealed peaks of higher impact during NLs and first year of pandemic, nevertheless the overall predicted values were below Predicted No Effect Concentrations (PNEC).

Keywords: Benzophenones; COVID pandemics; Parabens; Personal care products; SARS CoV-2; Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE).