It’s not surprising that men are succumbing to the same advertising on looking good that has enticed women to buy for decades.

The average adult man in the United States uses 11 different personal care products every day, nearly twice as many as 20 years ago, according to a survey by Morning Consult. The survey also showed that on average, women use 13 products daily, up from 12 in 2004.

Combining the usage for men and women, the average adult uses 12 personal care products in a day. The 12 products could be made with as many as 112 chemicals, some of which may pose serious health risks, an analysis of the survey data by the Environmental Working Group, the advocacy organization that commissioned for the study, shows.

“Our concern is that the safety of ingredients is still assessed one at a time, which doesn’t match how consumers are exposed to consumer products, dozens at a time and over a lifetime,” said Homer Swei, Ph.D., EWG senior vice president for healthy living science.

Ingredients linked to health harms

The analysis showed that U.S. consumers are exposed, on average, every day to two ingredients in personal care products linked to cancer and to two linked to chemicals that can harm reproductive and development systems. Consumers are also exposed to 15 fragrance chemicals a day, seven of which are chemicals that could cause an allergic reaction.

“Many of the ingredients used in cosmetics and personal care products are also found in other consumer products,” said Swei. “When industry declares ‘safe as used,’ they are not looking at the reality of the total amount or how often people are being exposed across all products they bring into their homes.”

The survey found that the majority of adults – 85 percent – are concerned about the safety of personal care products.  

To help people looking for products without harmful ingredients, consumers can look for the EWG VERIFIED mark for products free from chemicals of concern that meet EWG’s strictest standards for health.

However, he said, while it’s important for consumers to research the chemicals in personal care products, better regulation is needed. 

Regulation of personal care products

States have taken the lead on regulating personal care products because federal action has been lagging. After more than 80 years of federal inaction, California banned 24 chemicals from use in personal care products in 2020. In 2022, California prohibited PFAS from being added to cosmetics.

At the federal level, the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 was signed into law by President Joe Biden as part of a spending bill. As a result, the Food and Drug Administration can now require manufacturers to report serious health problems caused by cosmetics. 

The law also requires companies to keep records showing product safety and labeling of fragrance allergens for all cosmetics and requires the FDA to standardize tests for asbestos in products containing talc.

“These reforms were urgently needed and long overdue,” said Melanie Benesh, EWG vice president of government affairs. “Cosmetics have been some of the least regulated consumer products for too many years.” 

Consumers looking to limit their exposure to harmful cosmetics ingredients go to EWG’s Skin Deep database and look for personal care products with a lower hazard rating.