EU agency finds banned chemicals in some 6% of cosmetics

A pilot enforcement project found that around 6% of inspected cosmetic products contained hazardous substances banned under European regulations, the European Chemicals Agency said in a statement on Wednesday. 

The ECHA said that national enforcement agencies in the 13 European Economic Area (EEA) member states — including Germany — checked almost 4,500 cosmetic products, and found banned substances in 285 of them. 

The investigators were looking for a series of chemicals banned or restricted under a pair of EU regulations, the POPs Regulation banning persistent organic pollutants, and the REACH Regulation on the registration, evaluation, authorization, and restriction of chemicals. 

Offending chemicals found 'mainly looking at the ingredients list' 

The ECHA said that its pilot project had for the most part used a very simple methodology for tests carried out between November 2023 and April 2024. 

"The inspections were mainly done by checking the ingredients list — measures that can be easily used also by consumers," it said.

"Consumers should be aware that the restricted substances were found in different types of cosmetic products, from various sellers and at all price ranges," it said. 

Enforcement agencies had taken some first steps to remove the non-compliant products from the market, the ECHA said. 

"In most cases, the first step was issuing a written advice guide to suppliers on how to comply with the law. At the time of writing the report, investigations were still ongoing in about half the cases," the ECHA said. 

Pencil eyeliners and lipliners, conditioners and hair masks among the items 

The Helsinki-based organization was primarily seeking indications of the presence of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) and related substances, and cyclic siloxanes D4 and D5. 

It said it often found perfluorononyl dimethicone, which degrades into PFOA and PFCAs, in pencil and crayon eyeliners and lipliners — and that D4 and D5 were often present in conditioners and hair masks. 

"PFOA and siloxanes, D4 and D5, break down slowly in the environment and build up in humans and other species. PFOA is not only persistent in the environment but also toxic to reproduction and suspected of causing cancer. D4 is also suspected of damaging fertility," the ECHA said. 

msh/ab (AFP, dpa)