FDA-Proposed Talc Testing Methods Likely Would Find Particles Of Concern; Then What?
Executive Summary
The FDA is focused on driving adoption of more sensitive, standardized testing methods for assessing cosmetic talc purity, which it believes would yield more consistent results across labs. This would help to inform research into the health implications of trace levels of asbestos and other elongate mineral particles in talc; in the interim it could to be damaging to companies that supply or use that talc.
You may also be interested in...
US FDA Cosmetics Director Lists Talc, Formaldehyde In Hair Smoothers Among Priorities
Linda Katz, director of the FDA’s Office of Cosmetics and Colors, touched on cosmetics modernization legislation in her 21 September presentation on agency priorities at the Independent Beauty Association’s virtual FDA Cosmetics Regulations Workshop.
US FDA Says White Paper Could Inform Rulemaking For Cosmetic Talc-Asbestos Testing
Formed by the FDA in fall 2018 and convened in early 2020 for a public meeting, the Interagency Working Group on Asbestos in Consumer Products maintains that electron microscopy should be a first-line method for detecting asbestos in cosmetic talc and talc-containing products, and that labs should report elongate mineral particles beyond those classically understood as asbestos.
50 For 50: All Talc-Containing Cosmetic Samples Found Asbestos-Free In Latest US FDA Tests
No traces of asbestos were found in each of 50 talc-based cosmetic products a contract lab tested for FDA, an improvement over 17% of samples – nine of 52 products – testing positive for the carcinogen in the agency’s previous round.