Health Hazard from Cosmetics? – Rapid Alerts on Cosmetic Products

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Oct 24, 2018 - Cosmetics

Health Hazard from Cosmetics? – Rapid Alerts on Cosmetic Products

In the first three quarters of 2018, there were several warnings about potential health hazards in the area of cosmetics in the European rapid alert system RAPEX regarding cosmetic products.

Compared to 2017, there were significantly fewer complaints due to microbiological contaminations (6 in 2017). However, in general, the number of RAPEX notifications has significantly increased compared to the previous year (63 in the entire year) with already 101 notifications.

This increase in warnings due to health-endangering cosmetics deserves a closer look at the reasons for these notifications in order to derive trends and conclusions.

Table 1: Number of RAPEX notifications sorted by products and type of hazard for the period 01/2018 to 09/2018

As in the previous year, the most common reason for a notification was the detection of isothiazolinones. Including September 2018, there have been a total of 27 notifications regarding these substances in various products. Notifications of other preservatives were only received for two other products.

These substances are, as previously reported, prohibited in leave-on products according to a change in the Cosmetics Regulation since February 2017. In rinse-off products, the limit remains at 0.01%.

Another cause for notifications, which played a minor role last year, is a potential choking hazard caused by the possible confusion of the product with food. This mainly affects bath additives in the form of cakes or other food items. Due to this danger, there have already been 27 notifications in 2018.

There has also been a significant increase in notifications regarding allergenic fragrances. In 2017 there was only one notification about this hazard, but by 2018 there have already been 12 notifications. This primarily affected perfumes, and in some cases, body creams. Allergenic fragrances are naturally found in many flavors or perfumes and are not banned in cosmetics. However, due to their allergenic potential, they must be labeled when they exceed a certain concentration (0.001% for leave on, 0.01% for rinse-off products).

No longer in second place among the reasons for complaints, but still noteworthy with 10 notifications, is the detection of hydroquinone or hydroquinones. This substance is potentially carcinogenic and is therefore regulated in the Cosmetics Regulation. The maximum content is 0.3% in hair dye products and 0.2% in nail extension products.

All other reasons for complaints only occurred sporadically. However, some of them were noteworthy. Asbestos fibers were detected in three makeup products, and pharmacologically active substances (including steroids) were detected in two products. Furthermore, dental products play an important role. To achieve bleaching effects, there was a health-threatening content of hydrogen peroxide in three cases.

As a result of the warnings, in addition to the publication on the RAPEX portal, there was always a withdrawal or a recall of the products from the market.

Despite a multitude of notifications, some striking problem areas can be identified that are mainly responsible for categorizing cosmetics as health-endangering.

If you would like to have your cosmetics tested for one or more of the substances described above, please feel free to contact us.