Currently, representations on product labels dictate the levels of VOC content they are permitted to contain under the California Air Resources Board’s consumer products regulations. In its drive to tighten VOC limits, the agency is considering a change that would make online statements additional controlling factors for VOC categorization, one of several moves the personal-care industry aims to discourage.

Personal Care Products Council exec Tom Myers says it’s crucial that industry be involved now, ahead of proposed rulemaking expected from California’s “clean air agency” in 2020, to inform the Air Resources Board about reformulation challenges and opportunities to reduce levels of volatile organic compounds in line with state goals.

Hairburst’s hair-growth and hair-loss prevention claims on cosmetic products are inadequately substantiated, and many of the health claims it uses to promote food supplements are unauthorized, the Advertising Standards Authority says in a 14 Aug. decision.

Other nail-care chemicals beyond toluene could be selected down the line for Priority Product consideration under California’s Safer Consumer Products regulation, the program’s Acting Deputy Director Karl Palmer suggested in an interview. For now, the Department of Toxic Substances Control is moving its toluene documents through peer review, with possible rulemaking to follow.

Manufacturers of methylene chloride-containing paint strippers have submitted the first substantial alternatives analysis under California’s Safer Consumer Products regulation, an undertaking that could be informative for other industries. Karl Palmer, who heads the program for the Department of Toxic Substances Control, discusses the process and the DTSC’s probe into 1,4-dioxane in personal care.

UK regulator advises Cocoa Brown brand ambassador and TV personality Olivia Buckland to include "#ad" disclosure in Instagram posts touting the tanning mousse. Ruling is regulator's second in a week cracking on paid-for health and beauty influencer Instagram promotional posts not indicated as advertising.

Market disruptions, “dramatically” higher prices, lost jobs and negative health consequences all are possible if legislation passed in New York in June to reduce 1,4-dioxane exposures is enacted in its current form, trade organizations say. Cleaning product industry advocates are leading the opposition, but personal-care manufacturers stand to be impacted as well.

Cosmetic cleansing products containing 1,4-dioxane at levels above 1 part per million would be unlawfully marketed in New York beginning in 2023 under legislation passed by the state’s legislature in June. Governor Andrew Cuomo reportedly is reviewing the bill.

Major industry advocates have dropped their formal objections to an amended California bill that would require use of questionable fragrance components in cosmetics to be reported to the state’s health department. The proposed legislation is moving rapidly through the California Assembly after passing the Senate in late May.

The Democratic congressman from New Jersey requests updated data on imported cosmetics and FDA’s related inspection work in a June 26 letter to agency leadership, which follows a similar inquiry from Pallone in 2016. Further, he asks for any additional information that might inform the development of cosmetics reform legislation.

NGOs continue to push for a worldwide ban on cosmetics developed at animals’ expense. With cruelty-free cosmetics laws already in place in Europe, California and other major markets around the globe, animal-welfare advocates still see strategic value in driving bans in, say, Nevada. 

Even if plaintiffs’ allegations are true and significant amounts of L'Oreal Paris and Maybelline pump-dispensed liquid makeup cannot be accessed by consumers due to the company's packaging design, plaintiffs’ deception claims still are preempted by federal statutes, a US district judge says, dismissing the proposed class action in New York’s Southern District.

There’s a growing body of scientific evidence linking cannabidiol to benefits of interest to beauty industry players, but if a company’s CBD ingredient differs from the substance studied, that could be grounds for a false-advertising complaint. Venable partner Todd Halpern discusses.

Plaintiff Ashley Franz’s claim that Beiersdorf’s Nivea Skin Firming Hydration Body Lotion is an unlawfully marketed drug clears the “relatively low bar of plausibility,” a California federal court determined May 21, denying the firm’s latest bid for dismissal. However, the court intriguingly suggests a motion for summary judgment could be “appropriate” before addressing class certification.

Speakers at ICMAD’s regulatory workshop in New York stressed the importance of CBD testing in today’s highly uncertain climate for hemp-based cosmetics. While rigorous testing can drive up costs and slow the path to market, it also could significantly reduce chances of safety, regulatory or legal issues down the line.

Marketing CBD-containing cosmetics in today’s hazy legal and regulatory environment carries risks beyond what insurance carriers may be willing to take on. Kenneth Hegel of Cosmetic Insurance Services, a division of brokerage firm Frenkel & Company – an Epic Company, discusses the dilemma facing underwriters and criteria companies can meet to improve their insurance prospects.