Bismuth (Bi) is a heavy metal that over recent years has shown increasing concentrations in sewage sludge in Swedish wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), indicating an increasing Bi use in the society. The high accumulation rate of Bi in soil when sewage sludge is used as fertilizer on arable land is of environmental concern. Bismuth is used in various consumer products to replace lead, but which sources in the society that explain the increasing amount of Bi in sewage sludge in the municipal WWTPs is however unknown. This study aimed to analyze one product group suspected to contain Bi, cosmetics, and three different products were chosen (foundation, powder and eye shadow) in order to study the flows in urban wastewater in Stockholm, Sweden. The chemical analyses showed that Bi was present in very high concentrations (>100 000 mg/kg) in one third of the analyzed foundation and powder samples, while mainly low concentrations were found in eye shadow. These cosmetic products explained approximately 24 % of the measured total Bi amounts reaching the WWTP in 2012, making cosmetics a major Bi source. It is therefore recommended to monitor the Bi concentrations in sewage sludge regularly. Efforts should be made to further examine the sources of Bi to WWTPs and to decrease the emission from Bi in cosmetics to the WWTPs.