Labeled ingredient composition and literature-reported hazard signals in children's toothpastes available through selected UAE retail sources.

BACKGROUND: Young children frequently swallow toothpaste during brushing, making the composition of ingredients and the context of exposure relevant to pediatric oral care. OBJECTIVE: To conduct a descriptive survey of children's toothpastes available through selected UAE retail sources and to develop a structured evidence map of literature-reported biological effects associated with labeled ingredients, without performing product-level safety or risk assessment. METHODS: We surveyed children's toothpastes marketed in the UAE and cataloged labeled ingredients. An evidence-mapping review was conducted to identify published scientific and regulatory reports of biological effects associated with these ingredients. Evidence was classified by source, exposure route, dose relevance, population relevance, evidence consistency, and relevance to routine pediatric toothpaste use. RESULTS: Sixty-five products were identified, including conventionally marketed toothpastes and those labeled as natural, organic, or herbal (NOHT). Both categories contained diverse ingredients, with substantial overlap in excipients such as surfactants, preservatives, humectants, and flavoring agents. Fluoride labeling was more common among conventional products in this sample (a formulation feature and labeling practice, not a safety comparison). Literature-reported biological effects varied widely by ingredient and were derived from regulatory assessments, human studies, animal models, in-vitro experiments, and other exposure contexts, many of which were not directly representative of routine pediatric toothpaste use. CONCLUSIONS: In this UAE market sample, conventional and NOHT children's toothpastes shared multiple ingredients for which biological effects have been reported under varying exposure conditions. These findings represent structured hazard identification and evidence mapping rather than quantitative risk assessment. Product-level safety cannot be determined without ingredient concentration and exposure data, and marketing descriptors such as "natural" or "herbal" should not be interpreted as indicators of safety.