EU Ban on Testing Cosmetic Ingredients on Animals

The Seventh amendment to the EU Cosmetics Directive (legislation covering cosmetics) means that from March 11, 2009, it is illegal to test cosmetic ingredients on animals for skin irritancy, phototoxicity, corrosivity, percutaneous absorption, genotoxicity, ocular irritancy and acute toxicity. It is now illegal to test cosmetic ingredients on animals anywhere in the EU and to sell or import into the EU cosmetic ingredients or products that have been animal tested after March 11, 2009, with the exception of eight other tests which are still authorised until 2013.

In 2013 animal testing will also become illegal for carcinogenicity,
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REACH: A Thorn in the side of the Chemical Industry?

Nicolas Garderes, a French attorney specialising in environmental and European law with the international law firm Denton Wilde Sapte, writes in GCI Magazine of the challenges faced by manufacturers who are now required to meet the terms of the EU chemicals regulation called REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical Substances). Nicolas suggests that whilst larger companies have made investments in compliance with REACH for the most part, small and mid-size companies are struggling to deal with the regulatory issues involved. 

Nicolas also points out that the US “is clearly one of the countries most Read more

FDA Fails to Protect Says Campaign for Safe Cosmetics

More than a year after the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics reported that popular brands of lipstick contain lead, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has still not released the results of its own testing of lead in lipstick, despite pressure from senators and repeated calls from health groups. 

New reports indicate that the beauty industry’s lead problems go further than lipstick. The Canadian government announced last week it found lead in children’s face paint. The results were publicly announced immediately as Read more

Europe Bans Two Chemicals From Cosmetics

The European Union has prohibited two chemicals from being used in cosmetic products, in a recent amendment to the European Cosmetics Directive. From November 5, 2009 companies are barred from using diethylene glycol (DEG) or phytonadione. This action has been taken following the discovery of high levels of DEG in some toothpaste products from other markets. Although a representative of the industry trade association, the Cosmetics, Toiletries and Perfumery Association (CTPA) suggested that reputable brands do not use DEG, trace levels are often present as an impurity in widely used ingredients such as glycerol.

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Canada Bans Two Toxics From Cosmetic Products

The Canadian authorities have added two cosmetic chemicals, isoprene and epichlorohydrin to the Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist (a document featuring prohibited and restricted ingredients modelled to a degree on the restricted lists in the EU Cosmetics Directive). The cosmetics industry isn’t exactly reeling as these ingredients are hardly used anyway, but Health and Environment Canada are scrutinising 200 ‘high-priority’ chemicals over the next year.

Siloxanes D4 and D5, commonly used in deodorants and numerous other Read more