COSSMA report: Hair colorants banned for out-of-date safety dossiers

COSSMA, the international trade journal for the cosmetics and personal care industry, reports in its September issue that the European Commission has now decided to ban, with immediate effect, 22 hair colorants. Further bans are expected before the end of this year. When we think of cosmetics ingredients being banned we usually think of substances that in one way or an-other represent a risk to the consumer. However, the background to this latest move is rather different.

In 2001 an epidemiological study of hair colorants and cancer of the bladder, by Gago Dominguez, caused quite a commotion and raised questions in the media about the safety of hair colorants. The EU felt obliged to ask the cosmetics industry to provide updated safety dossiers on all of the ingredients used in hair colorants.

The hypothesis based around the bladder cancer study has since been disproved several times, as COSSMA subscribers can see from the background information that is available for download on the Internet.
The EU nevertheless continued to demand the dossiers, and furthermore they wanted research to be carried out on all of the reaction products from oxidative hair colorants. This is quite an undertaking, and in well-informed circles the cost is estimated to be around 30 million Euros – all of which had to be borne by the cosmetics industry.

The end result is that all of the ingredients tested were confirmed to be safe, which corresponds with earlier assessments by the SCCNFP. In addition it was shown that the degree of exposure of the human body to the reaction products from hair colorants is negligible.

“Based on the high costs of producing the dossiers the industry decided not to submit data on ingredients that are of little economic value. That does not mean, however, that these sub-stances are in any way dangerous. They have already been found by the SCCNFP to be safe,” explains Dr. Gerhard Nohynek, head toxicologist at L'Oréal.

The IKW (Germany's cosmetics manufacturers trade association) also points out that the hair colorants that have now been banned are not used in Europe and so there was no reason to produce expensive safety dossiers.

Read more on www.cossma.com

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About COSSMA magazine

COSSMA is an international trade magazine aimed at the cosmetics industry worldwide. It carries regular reports on ingredients and their applications, research and development, packaging and design, aerosol and spray technology, machines and equipment, and service providers to the cosmetics industry. In addition the magazine covers major industry events and exhibitions. COSSMA’s editorial concept distils complex, detailed information down to the essentials and is essential reading for decision makers in the cosmetics industry. COSSMA subscribers have unlimited access to the online archives at www.cossma.com to download additional background information.

About Health and Beauty Business Media GmbH

Health and Beauty Business Media GmbH is part of Health and Beauty Holding (Europe) GmbH. Health and Beauty Holding (Europe) GmbH is an international media company providing its readers, exhibitors and customers more than 30 professional magazines and trade fairs in 14 countries. The headquarter lies in Karlsruhe, Germany.

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This release was published on openPR.