Washington State Ecology Mulls ‘Safer’ Definition While Exploring Phthalate Alternatives In Fragrances

Marissa Smith, senior regulatory toxicologist in the Washington Department of Ecology’s Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction program, discusses what’s next for the state’s inaugural Safer Products go-round. “How we define ‘safer’ is really going to be the lynchpin of this whole process,” she says.

Washington state’s Department of Ecology will host a webinar on 8 October to discuss potential criteria for identifying safer alternatives to priority chemical classes under the Safer Products for Washington program.

As of June, phthalates in fragranced beauty and personal-care products have been provisionally positioned for alternative assessment under the regulation, which stems from legislation enacted in May 2019.

The “priority product” selection, one of roughly a dozen in the program’s first cycle, will not be formal until Washington’s legislature adjourns its next session in April 2021, allowing lawmakers to weigh in on Ecology’s picks.

Marissa smith, senior regulatory toxicologist at Ecology

In the interim, the department has entered Phase 3 of the Safer Products program, tentatively assessing the alternatives landscape for listed chemical-product combinations of concern. (Also see "Washington State Exploring Phthalate Alternatives In Safer Products Program Phase 3" - HBW Insight, 14 Sep, 2020.)

Importantly, “we haven’t defined ‘safer,’” said Marissa Smith, senior regulatory toxicologist in Ecology’s Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction program, in a 22 September interview with HBW Insight.

In the October webinar, “we’re going to talk about what safer means,” she said. “What is the criteria for safer? How do we know that something is safer?”

The department will be actively seeking stakeholder feedback on such points.

Ecology suggested in a final report to the legislature in June that dipropylene glycol and triethyl citrate are among a number of solvents and fixatives used in cosmetic fragrances in addition to phthalates.

“Many fragrances are also dissolved in water and ethanol, though these are not compatible with all compounds. In addition, cosmetics could be formulated to be fragrance-free to avoid the use of solvents,” Ecology says.

The department is aware of cosmetics brands that do without phthalates.

“But just because something is phthalate-free, it doesn’t mean that alternative is safer, because we don’t know what it is,” Smith said. “So we’re not just looking for whether there are phthalate-free products, we want to know what’s being used and whether it meets criteria for safer that we haven’t finished developing with our stakeholders yet.”

She added, “How we define safer is really going to be the lynchpin of this whole process.”

Ecology intends to float some rough ideas during the October webinar and follow up with something more formalized once it collects and processes stakeholder input.

According to the Personal Care Products Council, diethyl phthalate (DEP) is by and large the only phthalate still used “periodically” in cosmetics, and that use is decreasing, the trade group says, citing a 2010 analytical survey conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Ecology acknowledges the FDA’s 2010 findings in its report to the state legislature, but says more recent studies tell a different story.

The department cites studies published in 2013 and 2015 that detected DEP in all analyzed fragrances, leading it to suspect that DEP, and potentially other phthalates, are still in wide use in cosmetics.

Ecology further notes in its report that fragrances are estimated to be “one of the leading contributors of phthalates to Washington’s environment, and that 17 tons of phthalates are released into Washington’s environment each year from fragrance use.”

Moreover, “overburdened populations – such as women of color, pregnant women, women of childbearing age, and low-income populations” – have been shown to have relatively higher exposures to phthalates based on metabolite measurements in urine samples, possibly implicating beauty and personal-care product use, Ecology suggested.

Smith noted Ecology’s ongoing interest in hearing from organizations on behalf of underrepresented populations that may experience disproportionate chemical exposures.

Challenges Ahead

Washington’s Safer Products regulation and the overarching statute dictate that any safer chemical alternatives mandated by eventual rulemaking – which would not happen for phthalates or other first-round picks until June 2023, requiring compliance one year later – must be available and feasible.

“We definitely have our work cut out for us, and we’re welcoming it with open arms,” Smith said. “It’s an exciting program to work on, but yes, it’s very complicated.”

Ecology will consider leveraging existing resources from external sources where appropriate. Smith noted interest in the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Safer Chemical Ingredient List under its Safer Choice standard, as well as the GreenScreen and Cradle to Cradle certification programs.

“As we get additional information, as we have more conversations, and as we talk about safer alternatives and what’s feasible and what’s available, the priority product categories may become more refined in some ways,” Smith said.

In spring and summer 2021, Ecology plans to hold webinars on individual priority products, including phthalates-containing personal care and beauty products, to share its thinking on potential safer alternatives.

Prominent US-based NGO the Environmental Working Group rates DEP a moderate hazard (3) on its Skin Deep hazard scale, citing possible reproductive and immune system toxicity, among other concerns.

PCPC notes on its CosmeticsInfo.org website that both the US-based Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel and the European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety have affirmed the safe use of DEP in cosmetic products without restriction.

Phthalates were targeted for first-round attention in the Washington legislation that begot the Safer Products for Washington regulation. In future cycles, Ecology will work with stakeholders to identify priority chemicals that warrant looks within consumer product categories that lead to potentially harmful exposures.