Microplastic-infused leave-on cosmetics targeted by the EU’s proposed restriction are numerous and complexly formulated, and there currently are no viable replacement ingredients, according to Cosmetics Europe. Eliminating plastic microbeads from rinse-off products was a far simpler undertaking, but it still took more than four years and resulted in the discontinuation of roughly half of affected formulations. 

Personal care and cosmetic product trademark filings compiled from the Official Gazette of the US Patent and Trademark Office, Class 3.

As the European microplastic restriction proposal moves toward finalization, with heavy stakes for the cosmetics industry, EU member states and decision makers in Brussels must contend with unresolved questions of proportionality. At a time of global environmental angst and unprecedented economic challenges, what does society value most?

The Washington Department of Ecology has submitted to the state legislature its final list of “priority products” under the Safer Products regulation, including phthalate-containing personal-care products. A recent webinar broke down next steps in Phase 3 of the program – alternatives assessment.

New Jersey-based Arcadia Consumer Healthcare, Inc., succeeded in reopening a 2018 National Advertising Division case involving its ‘#1 Pharmacist Recommended’ claim for the Fungi-Nail line, but failed again to convince the NAD that survey findings justify the claim.

NGOs claim the European Chemicals Agency’s proposal for restricting microplastics in cosmetics and other products could “make a growing problem worse” by excluding particles smaller than 100 nanometers. The agency clapped back on 1 September, maintaining its proposal was developed in a scientific manner based on input from all stakeholders, including NGOs.

The proposed Environmental Justice for All Act originated in the US House, but is being sponsored in the Senate by Democratic VP nominee Kamala Harris of California. The bill would require professional cosmetic ingredient labeling, already mandated in California, and includes other provisions borrowed from cosmetics reform legislation stalled in Congress.

The proposed Cosmetic Fragrance and Flavor Ingredient Right to Know Act faces no opposition in its current form, but must pass California’s Assembly and get the Senate’s concurrence before 1 September.

The FDA must report to the House Appropriations Committee on any work toward defining “natural” cosmetics and on the health effects of talc, asbestos and lead in cosmetic products. The committee’s 2021 FDA spending bill report also cites concerns about skin-lightening products containing “dangerous levels of mercury and hydroquinone.”

FDA’s second report to Congress on oversight of CBD market includes results from studies of whether products are mislabeled or adulterated, but also indicates throughout that more data are needed on safety of hemp-derived CBD ingredients used in myriad consumer health, cosmetic and food products already available.

L’Oreal acquires Thayers Natural Remedies; Unilever, L’Oreal remove ‘whitening,’ ‘fair’ from labels; China finalizes modernization of cosmetics regulations; and Florida governor signs law preventing local bans on oxybenzone.

“Nine of the chemicals we are proposing to ban in AB 2762 are linked to a compromised immune system which can increase susceptibility to, and negatively impact recovery from, COVID-19,” Assemblymember and coauthor Bill Quirk says of the Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act, which passed California’s Assembly unanimously on 11 June.

A class action complaint in California’s Southern District, challenging the hand sanitizer manufacturer’s 99.99% germ-kill claim, ignores the asterisk on products’ primary display panels that links to a disclosure on rear labels, “*Effective at eliminating 99.99% of many common harmful germs & bacteria," according to Vi-Jon's 27 August motion to dismiss.

A growing number of class action complainants allege that 99.99% germ-killing claims on hand sanitizers are false and misleading. The suits cite potentially dangerous microorganisms that, according to plaintiffs, are impervious to active ingredients used in the category, and argue that bacteria reductions do not necessarily translate to illness or infection prevention.

Companies should seek legal counsel when making “Made in the USA” claims, particularly if the Federal Trade Commission’s proposed rule on the subject is adopted as drafted. Published in July, the proposed rule would enable the FTC to obtain civil penalties from violating firms “more quickly and easily," attorneys say.

Plaintiffs allege that Coppertone sunscreens are deceptively labeled as “mineral-based” when they contain a larger percentage of chemical active ingredients than mineral active ingredients. On 31 July, California’s Northern District roundly rejected defendants’ motion to dismiss.

Like other hand sanitizer manufacturers, WillSpeed Technology claims its GermBloc “kills 99.99% of germs.” Plaintiffs in a proposed class action filed in Massachusetts federal court allege the claim “grossly overstates” the product’s efficacy, deceiving consumers and endangering them with false confidence.

L’Oreal USA beat a suit in May in New York regarding liquid cosmetics packaging, which plaintiffs alleged cheated consumers out of product they expected to be accessible, only to face a newly proposed class action, filed in California on 5 June, over an alleged Clarisonic waterproofing defect.