EU issues ingredients health warning

Published: 1-Aug-2006


A slew of scientific opinions warning about potential consumer health safety issues associated with cosmetics products have been released by EU scientists who are calling in many cases for additional research.

The European Commission’s scientific committee on consumer products has for instance warned of the potential risk of allergic reactions to the common scent ingredient coumarin, following patch tests. It has called for more studies into the potential purity of the chemical to which consumers are exposed, about which there is currently little data.

It has also concluded that existing data on the approved use of 4-aminobenzoic acid as a sunscreen needs reviewing, because much existing dossier information does “not conform to current standards and guidelines”. Committee members reached the same conclusion regarding sunscreen ingredient benzoic acid, 2-[4-(diethylamino)-2-hydroxybenzoyl]-hexylester.

Meanwhile, the committee has also called for more tests on hair dye ingredient 1-hydroxyethyl-4,5-diamino pyrazole sulfate, because “the information submitted is inadequate to assess [its] safe use”. And it has concluded that “no safe use level for methyldibromoglutaronitrile in cosmetic rinse-off products has been established”.

The committee has also warned that hair dye ingredients HC Violet no1 and N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)-p-phenylenediamine sulfate should not be used in combination with nitrosating substances.

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