Kids’ Cosmetics With Talc Would Require Asbestos-Free Verification Or Warnings Under Dingell Bill

Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., is taking another swing at legislation to require cancer warnings on talc-containing cosmetics marketed to children if they have not been determined asbestos-free via transmission electron microscopy to FDA’s satisfaction.

Roughly one year after Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., proposed the Children’s Product Warning Label Act in response to concerns about asbestos-tainted cosmetics on specialty girls’ retail shelves, she’s reintroducing the bill, and Claire’s Stores, Inc. is again top of mind.

“Parents should have the peace of mind in knowing that the cosmetics their children use are safe. Yet once again, asbestos was found in products … being marketed and sold to children by the popular retailer Claire’s,” says Dingell in a March 18 release.

“No child should be exposed to asbestos through the use of common, everyday products,” she adds.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Lanham, Md.-based AMA Analytical Services, Inc. performed the analysis of Claire’s products this time around on FDA’s behalf, detecting asbestos in three products the retailer is voluntarily recalling now after some initial resistance. (Also see "Claire’s Caves, Recalls Makeup Products Following FDA’s Asbestos Finding" - HBW Insight, 13 Mar, 2019.)

Previously, Scientific Analytical Institute (SAI) in Greensboro, N.C., identified asbestos in a slew of Claire’s makeup offerings, findings that Claire’s rejected based on purported lab testing it ordered up.

Not all talc-analysis methods are sufficiently powered or equally reliable at uncovering the presence of asbestos, experts say, including FDA. (Also see "‘Asbestos-Free’ A Relative Term? SAI Testing Expert On Cosmetic Talc Challenges" - HBW Insight, 19 Mar, 2018.)

According to Sean Fitzgerald, director of research and legal services at SAI, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is the best – if still imperfect – option at present for identifying asbestos fibers in cosmetic talc.

In an interview with HBW Insight last year, he called Dingell’s bill “a giant leap in the right direction.”

The reintroduced version, H.R. 1816, is very similar. It would amend federal cosmetics regulations to render misbranded any talc-containing cosmetic marketed to children unless it bears a labeled warning or has a waiver from FDA.

That waiver would be based on a manufacturer statement to the agency that the talc in its cosmetic comes from an asbestos-free mine, which then would have to be corroborated via TEM analysis to FDA’s satisfaction.

FDA would have 180 days from the legislation’s enactment to promulgate final regulations implementing the requirements.

Companies would be strongly incentivized to pursue waivers under the bill rather than plaster Dingell’s proposed text on product labels: “WARNING: Talc in this product has not been evaluated for asbestos contamination. Asbestos may be present. Asbestos at any level is known to the FDA to cause cancer, including lung cancer and mesothelioma. This product is not suitable for use by children.”

The problem is that current methods and standards for identifying asbestos in cosmetic talc and talc-based formulations are lacking, stakeholders say.

The United States Pharmacopeia is working to modernize its talc monograph at FDA’s request, with a focus on ensuring that prescribed asbestos-testing methods have adequate specificity. While the updated monograph would establish standards for pharmaceutical talc applications, it could well serve as the basis for cosmetic talc requirements.

However, USP’s effort is ongoing nearly a decade after FDA entered its request.

Veteran cosmetics reform advocate Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., joined Dingell in introducing the Children’s Product Warning Label Act in the new congressional session. In the previous Congress, Schakowsky authored what was arguably the least industry-friendly regulatory reform proposal on the table.  (Also see "What Do Cosmetics Reform Campaigners Dream Of At Night? Rep. Schakowsky Just Reintroduced It" - HBW Insight, 29 Sep, 2018.)

In the release she states, “Most Americans are shocked to realize that cosmetics and personal-care products are one of the least regulated consumer products [categories] on the market. … I will continue to fight for full disclosure of the many chemicals in our products, including dangerous carcinogens like asbestos.”

Schakowsky concludes, “This bill is an important step towards eliminating toxic beauty and personal-care products and giving the Food and Drug Administration the authority it needs to keep Americans safe.”