A risk assessment of additives and related chemicals – many of them used in the cosmetics industry – is being conducted across Europe, amid concerns that several substances have yet to be properly tested against their potential hazards.
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is overseeing the investigation under the European Union’s Community Rolling Action Plan (CoRAP) of chemical studies. According to an ECHA note, 56 substances will be investigated in 2014, and a total of 150 by 2016.
The process will fill in some missing links in the evaluation of the potential risks they pose to human health, including bioaccumulation and toxicity, endocrine disruption and carcinogenicity.