The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) says it identified 285 cosmetic products “from various sellers and at all price ranges” containing chemicals banned in Europe. Its main investigation method was surprisingly simple. enforcement authorities have taken measures to remove the non-compliant products from the market, with written advice issued to guide suppliers on compliance.
Investigations are said to be ongoing in about half of the cases.
The authorities found that 285 of the inspected cosmetics included hazardous chemicals whose use is banned.
The authorities looked at the products’ ingredients lists for the presence of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), long chain perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) and related substances, and cyclic siloxanes D4 and D5.
Banned ingredients discovered in the 285 products were: perfluorononyl dimethicone; perfluorooctylethyl triethoxysilane; perfluorononylethyl carboxydecyl PEG-10 dimethicone; and cyclopentasiloxane (D5), cyclomethicone (a blend of D4, D5 and D6) and cyclotetrasiloxane (D4).
These substances have been identified as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) or (very) persistent, (very) bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT/vPvB), meaning they adversely affect human health and the environment.
