Scientists Tested 113 Everyday Products Sold by Major US Retailers. 85% Contained 'Undisclosed Harmful Chemicals'

Do we really know what chemicals are in the personal care and cleaning products we use every day?

A new study published in Environment & Health suggests not.

Previous investigations have found that product manufacturers and labels may not always tell the full story when it comes to everyday goods and what's inside them, which prompted a team from several research institutions across the US to take a closer look.

They analyzed the chemical composition of 113 personal care and cleaning products, covering 12 categories that included laundry products, sunscreen, baby lotions, shampoo, deodorant, and toothpaste.

The tested products weren't named, but were sold at Target, Amazon, Walmart, and Dollar Tree.

Almost all products contained unlabeled chemicals. (Schultz et al., Environ. Health, 2026)

A huge 98 percent of these products contained at least one chemical not listed on its label, while 85 percent contained at least one unlabeled chemical known or suspected to be hazardous to human health.

"We found undisclosed harmful chemicals in products claiming to be free of them," says environmental health scientist Jenna Hua, from the Million Marker Research Institute in the US.

"That means someone can carefully read ingredient lists, choose 'clean' products, and still end up exposed to the very chemicals they were trying to avoid.

"The label can't protect you when it doesn't show what's really in the bottle."

More than 1 in 4 products had chemicals that contradicted selling points. (Schultz et al., Environ. Health, 2026)

One of the categories of substances the researchers were specifically assessing were endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which either mimic or block natural hormones in the body. Our hormones are key biological messengers, and EDCs interfere with them.

EDCs have been linked with a whole host of health problems, from breast cancer to obesity.

What this study posits is that even if you know the risk of EDCs and are trying to avoid them, you might still be exposed to them without being aware of it.

"The label can't protect you when it doesn't show what's really in the bottle." – Environmental health scientist Jenna Hua

"People shouldn't need a chemistry lab to know what they're bringing into their homes or putting on their skin," says Hua.

"The next generation of product safety must look beyond the label and test what is actually there."

The team used an approach called non-targeted analysis to look for chemicals, which (as the name suggests) doesn't start with a chemical name and then try and find it. Instead, it provides a full inventory of what's there.

More than a quarter of the products contained chemicals that contradicted claims – such as '100 percent natural' or 'hypoallergenic' – made in their marketing or on their labeling.

The researchers stress that they don't necessarily think these extra chemicals are being added intentionally.

They might emerge through contamination during production and storage, or through unexpected chemical reactions between ingredients, for example.

However, the study team is calling for tighter regulation and independent analysis when it comes to products on store shelves.

"For certain chemical categories, such as fragrances or botanicals, companies do not legally have to disclose all chemicals in the product," write the researchers.

"In the case of 'fragrance', many chemicals can be umbrellaed under the term and are not disclosed due to 'trade secrets'… In the case of botanicals, plant products can contain hundreds of individual chemicals that, although they may be 'naturally-derived', can still be harmful and should be disclosed."

It's worth noting that the study didn't measure any health impacts from these chemicals – it only identified the chemicals present. Exactly what harms these substances might do, and at what dosages, is a potential next step.

Clearly though, consumers need to be better informed about what's in the stuff we're buying, in the interests of public health.

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"Future research should focus on expanding non-targeted analytical approaches to additional product categories and improving identification confidence for unknown chemical features," write the researchers.

"Testing should be done on the finished, packaged product, and improved methods for tracing sources of contamination across supply chains may help clarify the origins of unlabeled compounds detected in consumer products."

The research has been published in Environment & Health.