Lawmakers in Hawaii and other jurisdictions may be left wanting by the National Academies of Sciences' sunscreen report, but industry groups were pleased with the academy's findings and recommendations to the EPA. The Personal Care Products Council says it confirms that scientific data are insufficient at present to conduct “realistic” ecological risk assessments of UV filters or support their bans.

Senate Appropriations Committee proposes $1.185bn to CFSAN and $2.19bn to CDER, both levels short of House appropriators passed in June. FDA requested $30.36m in user fees from monograph drugs but no amount was specified in Senate draft bill.

The agency is calling for an ISO 17025-accredited or equivalent partner to screen selected drug products for benzene, following a rash of sunscreen, antiperspirant and other OTC drug product recalls which triggered a rush on testing laboratories, as well as class action filings across the US.

Especially if the program eventually will be made mandatory, the US FDA must engage more with drug industry representatives – including OTC – as its plan for quality metric reporting continues taking shape, the trade association says.

The notices normally would go out on 1 August, but unspent user fee funds may be able to sustain work for a few weeks if the program expires.

Firms says products recalled were “inadvertently shipped to certain stores” after “being stored outside of labeled temperature requirements." Recalls include oral products and nasal sprays, oral care products, sunscreen and other topicals, supplements and variety of personal care SKUs.

Senate Appropriations Committee proposes $1.185bn to CFSAN and $2.19bn to CDER, both levels short of House appropriators passed in June. FDA requested $30.36m in user fees from monograph drugs but no amount was specified in Senate draft bill.

The notices normally would go out on 1 August, but unspent user fee funds may be able to sustain work for a few weeks if the program expires.

A National Academies of Sciences report is expected in coming weeks on the environmental impacts of sunscreen ingredients and potential human health issues associated with changing use patterns. But Hawaii County legislators decided they couldn’t wait for new information to come to light, voting yes on a measure to ban sales of non-mineral sunscreens, which became law on 8 July.

Essentiality criteria for substances categorized as “most harmful” in the EU – which otherwise may be banned under the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability – must take into account social and societal benefits, says the International Fragrance Association in recently published Green Deal policy recommendations.

Cosmetics and dietary supplement program reforms may have to wait if Republican Sen. Burr's stripped-down version of US FDA user-fee reauthorization package – which tracks with companion legislation already passed in the House – is the best Congress can do before the August recess.

Governor Gavin Newsom on 30 June signed into law the Plastics Pollution Prevention and Packaging Responsibility Act, which sets thresholds and timelines for reducing plastic use and meeting recycling goals, shifting recycling burden from consumers to producers.

Revlon approved for $1.4bn debtor-in-possession financing from BrandCo Lenders, a group of operating subsidiaries formed in capital structure changes which owns much of Revlon’s intellectual property. Firm appoints interim CFO to set course for debt restructuring.

As it did when it halted sales in US and Canada in 2020, J&J’s latest announcement attributes its decision as coming from a “portfolio assessment” and stated it remains confident in using talc in baby powder and cosmetics.

The latest in litigation against Unilever, P&G, Beiersdorf and J&J alleging violations for selling personal-care products contaminated with benzene.

Beiersdorf, Inc. labels its Coppertone Sport Mineral FACE sunscreen as formulated for face. Aside from its higher cost and different bottle, however, it is no different from Coppertone Sport Mineral lotion, claims a lawsuit filed in Connecticut federal court seeking class action status. 

Do reasonable consumers expect that a hand sanitizer advertised as lethal to 99.99% of germs will protect them against 99.99% of pathogens on the planet? Can a federal court address that point at the pleadings stage? Such questions will fall to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit following dismissal of a putative class action against Vi-Jon in 2021 by California’s Southern District.

Just because the use of a substance in a cosmetic product, in this case prostaglandin-derivative methylamide-dihydro-noralfaprostal, has a physiological effect does not mean it's a medicinal product by function, advises the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the EU in a recent opinion. While the opinion does not bind the CJEU to any decision, it may impact discussions elsewhere with regards to these substances, for example in the US.