California Cosmetic Database Makes Industry Ingredient Submissions Public
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Seven years after California’s Safe Cosmetics Act went into force, the state’s public health department issues a searchable database of what it deems potentially hazardous cosmetic ingredients, as well as products on the market that contain them. PCPC faults the tool for providing raw data without meaningful context.
The California Department of Public Health’s new database allows consumers to search for specific cosmetic products, product categories, chemicals or company/brand names to see if items in their personal-care regimens contain ingredients linked to cancer or reproductive harm.
The California Safe Cosmetics Program Product Database was mandated by the state’s Safe Cosmetics Act of 2005, and its debut marks the first time information reported under the statute has been made readily available to the public.
Consumers visiting SafeCosmeticsAct.org can access the database and view “educational information to help users learn how exposure to chemicals can affect their health and what is known about specific chemicals,” CDPH says.
The database “simply presents raw data that requires more context if it is to be meaningful and properly understood by the public.” – PCPC Chief Scientist Halyna Breslawec
The SCA requires companies selling cosmetic products in California that have more than $1 million in annual aggregate cosmetic sales to report to CDPH “products containing any chemical ingredient that has been found to cause cancer or reproductive harm” and submit relevant health-effects data, studies and additional information as requested (Also see "Cosmetics Industry Loses California Battle; Ingredient Bill Becomes Law" - HBW Insight, 17 Oct, 2005.).
Only cosmetics that have been available for purchase in the state since January 2007 are subject to the reporting requirement. According to CDPH, 475 companies submitted information on approximately 300,000 cosmetics products under the SCA as of November.
In determining chemicals that warrant regulation under the SCA, the state looked to lists developed by the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Toxicology Program, the International Agency for Research on Cancer and California’s Proposition 65.
The rule does not provide a de minimis exemption, so information reporting is mandatory regardless of the amount of ingredient used in a product. However, companies are permitted certain trade-secret protections. While they still need to report potentially hazardous chemicals to the state, companies qualifying for trade-secret protections will not have that information made public on the database, according to the website.
“Inclusion in this website means a product contains a chemical that has been identified as a known or suspected carcinogen or reproductive toxin by one of the authoritative bodies named in the Safe Cosmetics Act,” Ron Chapman, CDPH director and state health officer, explains in a Jan. 10 release.
He continues: “It does not mean that the cosmetic product itself has been shown to cause cancer, but since most products are not extensively tested for safety, providing information on chemical components will allow consumers to make more informed choices."
The Personal Care Products Council disagreed with Chapman’s suggestion that cosmetics are not subject to comprehensive safety tests.
In a Jan. 13 statement, the trade group maintains the safety of cosmetics, noting that products “undergo rigorous scientific safety testing and review” and that federal law requires personal-care firms to substantiate products’ safety before they are placed on the market.
“We appreciate the state’s efforts to create an online repository of ingredient information already found on product labels and submitted to the FDA under the Voluntary Cosmetic Registration Program,” Halyna Breslawec, PCPC’s chief scientist, says.
However, she suggests that the California website “simply presents raw data that requires more context if it is to be meaningful and properly understood by the public.”
Consumers should understand that the ingredients listed on the site are used in cosmetics at concentration levels that scientists and authoritative bodies in California and around the world have determined to be safe, Breslawec says.
NGOs applauded the state’s launch of the database and website.
In an email to The Rose Sheet, Janet Nudelman, co-founder of NGO the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, noted that CSC and the Breast Cancer Fund championed the California SCA and that the database was the “centerpiece” of the legislation.
The database “is one more tool for consumers to use to make safer choices about cosmetics,” she said. Moreover, “it also keeps the pressure on companies to reformulate products to remove chemicals linked to adverse health effects.”
CSC intends to continue pressuring industry and retailers to phase out controversial ingredients and improve transparency in 2014 (Also see "Campaign For Safe Cosmetics Targets Industry, Retailer “Laggards” In 2014" - HBW Insight, 20 Jan, 2014.).