Microplastic-infused leave-on cosmetics targeted by the EU’s proposed restriction are numerous and complexly formulated, and there currently are no viable replacement ingredients, according to Cosmetics Europe. Eliminating plastic microbeads from rinse-off products was a far simpler undertaking, but it still took more than four years and resulted in the discontinuation of roughly half of affected formulations. 

California’s passage of the Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act could trigger a state-level domino effect leading to a federal ban, according to Cruelty Free International’s North America Campaign Manager Monica Engebretson. Meanwhile, the NGO will continue to push for a global ban through the United Nations.

The cosmetics industry likely will want to steer ECHA away from leave-on cosmetics and non-cleansing/exfoliating rinse-off products containing microplastic particles. NGOs and lawmakers in some European member states have called for microplastic bans that include those product categories, which would exceed prohibitions in the US and phase-outs voluntarily undertaken by industry.