EU Commission to Regulate the Use of Parabens and Triclosan in Cosmetic Products

HONG KONG, China - Oct. 20, 2014 - PRLog -- The new regulation was published in the Official Journal on 9 April 2014 and amends Annexes II and V of existing Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 (1).

Evaluation of Parabens in Cosmetics

The Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) has called for toxicological data and a complete dossier of toxicity of long-chain parabens for evaluation. However, since there is limited information submitted for safety evaluation of isopropyl-, isobutyl-, phenyl-, benzyl-, and pentylparaben, human risk cannot be evaluated.

Maximum Concentration of Triclosan in Cosmetics

In addition, SCCS confirmed the Scientific Committee on Consumer Products (SCCP) position to consider that the continued use of triclosan as a preservative at the current maximum concentration limit of 0,3 % in all cosmetic products would raise a potential risk to human health.

The European Commission has taken and adopted the opinions from SCCS, which are now incorporated into the EU Cosmetic Regulation EC 1223/2009 as an amendment, as follows:

-    Annex II (Prohibited List) is amended by including the following parabens in Entries 1374-1378.
-    Annex V (List of preservatives allowed) is amended and Entry 25 has been replaced.

Annex II and Annex V are summarized in tables within the latest SafeGuards bulletin (http://newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/uploadedimages/0...).

New Cosmetic Regulation – Implementation Timeline

This regulation has entered into force in all Member States since the twentieth day following that of the publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

From 30 October 2014 onwards: New cosmetic products to be placed on the Union market have to comply with this regulation.

From 30 July 2015 onwards: Any products not complying with this regulation must be removed from the market by this date.

References:

1)    Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ...)
2)    Opinion on Parabens, SCCS/1348/10 Revision 22 March 2011, adopted on 14 December 2010 (http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/consumer...)

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It is crucial for all cosmetic, personal care and household products to be safe effective and stable. SGS provides testing, inspection, auditing and consulting services to manufacturers, distributors and importers to ensure a high level of product quality in every area. The company’s state of the art laboratories offer custom-made solutions for chemical, biophysical, microbiological, stability and biological aspects. SGS also has extensive capabilities in performance testing (http://www.sgs.com/en/Consumer-Goods-Retail/Cosmetics-Personal-Care-and-Household/Cosmetics-and-Personal-Care/Performance-and-Claim-Support/Product-Performance-Testing.aspx), claim support studies and consumer panels. Testing is conducted according to customer specific or recognized standard methods, some of which were developed by SGS. The cosmetic safety assessors and other technical experts can support customers by making sure new products comply with regulatory requirements.

Please do not hesitate to contact an SGS expert for further information.

Website: http://www.sgs.com/en/Consumer-Goods-Retail/Cosmetics-Personal-Care-and-Household.aspx

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