A Rutgers-led study of high school students has found that social media engagement may be linked to substantially greater use of personal care products, potentially increasing adolescents’ exposure to chemicals that can interfere with hormone signaling. The pilot study, published in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, surveyed 143 students at Princeton High School in New Jersey and examined how their daily routines intersected with online beauty culture. Students who followed influencers with their own product lines reported using 30 percent more personal care products during the previous 24 hours, while those who watched hair or beauty tutorials reported using 40 percent more. The associations remained after researchers accounted for gender, grade level, race, ethnicity and parental education.
The findings offer a new dimension to the scientific debate over how social media affects young people. Previous research has focused heavily on mental health, body image and sleep, but the Rutgers team says online content may also shape chemical exposure by influencing what adolescents put on their bodies and how frequently they use it. Beauty videos and influencer posts commonly feature layered routines involving cleansers, toners, serums, moisturizers, cosmetics, fragrances and hair products. Each individual item may contribute only a small amount to exposure, but repeated use of multiple products can create a complex mixture of chemicals entering the body through the skin, inhalation or accidental ingestion.
Personal care products can contain phthalates, parabens, phenols and other substances that may affect biological pathways governed by hormones. Hormones act as chemical messengers, regulating processes including growth, puberty, metabolism and reproduction. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals can mimic natural hormones, block their receptors or alter the production, transport and breakdown of hormonal signals. Some phthalates, for example, have been investigated for their potential effects on reproductive development, while certain parabens can display weak estrogen-like activity in laboratory studies. Phenols and fragrance ingredients have also been examined for possible links to altered hormone function and other health effects. The presence and concentration of these compounds varies widely among products, and ingredients may change over time.
In the survey, girls reported using a median of 14 personal care products during the previous day, approximately twice the number reported by boys. Soap and toothpaste were nearly universal, while 57 percent of students said they had used a fragrance in the preceding 24 hours. Fragrances are of particular interest to exposure scientists because products may contain phthalates or other fragrance-related ingredients that are not always individually disclosed on labels. In the United States, fragrance formulas can often be listed collectively as “fragrance” or “parfum,” making it difficult for consumers to identify every component. The students’ overall product use was comparable to levels previously reported in studies of adults, despite their younger age.
The researchers also examined whether students actively tried to reduce potential exposure. Although many expressed at least some concern about chemicals in personal care products, only 19 percent said they regularly read ingredient lists, and just 5 percent regularly used an application or website designed to identify products viewed as healthier. “Teenagers don’t read labels, it turns out,” said Vita Moss-Wang, who helped design and conduct the research while attending Princeton High School. The result highlights a practical challenge in chemical exposure prevention: even when people are aware of a possible risk, ingredient names can be difficult to interpret, product formulations can be opaque, and marketing claims such as “clean,” “natural” or “non-toxic” do not necessarily correspond to standardized safety categories.
The study’s emphasis on social media emerged from an unusual collaboration between professional researchers and high school students. Investigators from the Rutgers Center for Environmental Exposures and Disease approached Princeton High School’s research program in 2023, where Moss-Wang and Gabrielle Kaputa joined the project. The students helped develop the questionnaire, proposed questions about social media behavior, prepared research ethics materials, produced recruitment materials and helped organize outreach and data collection. Both later used the dataset for three-year research projects and became coauthors of the scientific paper. Their involvement helped direct attention toward influencer marketing and beauty tutorials, factors that might have been overlooked in a survey designed solely around traditional demographic and behavioral variables.
Emily Barrett, a Rutgers School of Public Health epidemiologist and the study’s lead author, said social media was the most striking element of the results. The researchers stress, however, that the survey cannot prove that online content causes increased product use. Students who are already more interested in cosmetics, skincare or personal presentation may be more likely both to watch beauty content and to use many products. The study also relied on self-reported behavior and involved a relatively small group of students from one New Jersey high school, limiting how confidently the findings can be generalized to adolescents in other communities. Social media habits, product availability and cultural expectations may differ substantially by region, socioeconomic background and age.
The next phase of the research will investigate the mechanisms behind the association. Rutgers researchers are conducting focus groups to learn which influencers, accounts and messages most strongly affect teenagers’ purchasing and application habits. A larger study could combine detailed product inventories with urine samples, allowing scientists to compare reported product use with biomarkers of exposure. Biomonitoring can detect metabolites produced when the body processes certain chemicals, although a urine measurement generally reflects recent exposure rather than long-term accumulation. Repeated samples, combined with ingredient-level product data, would provide a clearer picture of how daily routines contribute to internal chemical doses.
The researchers say online platforms could eventually become part of the solution as well as the problem. Trusted influencers, educators and health professionals might encourage adolescents to use fewer products, avoid unnecessary fragranced items or select formulations with more transparent ingredient information. Such advice would need to avoid overstating uncertain risks, since hazard and exposure are not the same: a chemical may affect health at a particular dose, while the actual risk depends on concentration, frequency, route of exposure and individual susceptibility. Adolescence remains an important period for study because the body undergoes rapid hormonal and developmental changes. Understanding how commercial messaging shapes personal care routines during this sensitive window could help reduce preventable exposure without placing the responsibility entirely on young consumers.
Subject of Research: People
Article Title: Adolescent personal care product use and social media engagement: a pilot study in NJ high school students
News Publication Date: 17-Aug-2026
Web References: Rutgers School of Public Health: https://sph.rutgers.edu/ ; Rutgers Center for Environmental Exposures and Disease: https://ceed.rutgers.edu/ ; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-026-00948-6
References: Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, “Adolescent personal care product use and social media engagement: a pilot study in NJ high school students,” DOI: 10.1038/s41370-026-00948-6
Keywords: Adolescents, teenagers, social media, beauty influencers, beauty tutorials, personal care products, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, phthalates, parabens, phenols, fragrance, hormone exposure, chemical exposure, Rutgers University
