Exposure method development for risk assessment to cosmetic products using a standard composition

•A method was established to assess qualitative and quantitative cosmetic product compositions.•It is applicable to all cosmetics and supplies concentration data for all ingredients.•Probabilistic exposure to nail polish composition was performed using the Monte Carlo technique.•This method allows a global risk assessment for cosmetic products. In a risk assessment of cosmetic products, it is necessary to know both qualitative and quantitative compositions. Currently, European Regulation No. 1223/2009 requires the industries to provide ingredient lists for finished cosmetic products but not their concentrations. Ingredient concentrations are available in few bibliographic references but in an incomplete and approximate way. In this study, we propose a method to qualitatively and quantitatively estimate the composition of a cosmetic product. This method has the advantages of being applicable to all cosmetic products and supplying concentration data for all ingredients. The results obtained seem quite fair compared to literature data. Applied to nail polish as an example, this method can be used to assess exposure per ingredient according to the Monte Carlo probabilistic method. It should be promising to assess the consumer risk to cosmetic product compositions.