About one-third of about 318,000 ingredients identified in beauty and personal care items do not have public toxicological profiles, while about 45 chemicals thought to be “high hazard” are commonly added, a new comprehensive analysis of the industry’s products finds.
Among the common toxic substances used in the 8,500 products checked by ChemForward, a non-profit that promotes transparency around beauty ingredients, are chemicals linked to hormone disruption, cancer, lung irritation and other health issues.
The report will be used as the foundation for a new industry effort to fill information gaps around the chemicals it uses, remove dangerous substances from supply chains, and advocate for shifts to safer alternatives.
The high number of unknown toxicological profiles highlights the challenges in avoiding dangerous chemicals in cosmetics and personal products, but there is optimism that it can be done, in part because the number of individual chemicals essential to the products is far below 318,000.
“You can really winnow down the number of chemicals that are required for the essential function of products to a manageable level and that’s why there’s optimism,” says Bill Walsh, director of the Safer Chemistry Impact Fund that is helping fund the effort.
Personal care and cosmetic companies are also attempting to get ahead of regulations instead of always reacting. Public health advocates have long pushed for stricter regulation of toxic chemicals used in personal care products. While regulations at the federal level are limited to a small number of substances, some states in recent years have stepped up regulations on products that contain PFAS “forever chemicals”, phthalates and other toxic compounds.
The new report gleaned data from several chemical databases, such as the European Chemicals Agency. It will be turned into a “centralized repository” of hazard data accessible to personal care and beauty producers. The non-profit also developed a chemical grading system, while its toxicologists will rate chemicals’ safety.
Among ingredients most frequently added to products that are considered by ChemForward to be dangerous are cyclopentasiloxane, red 30 and butylated hydroxytoluene. Those and other chemicals in the list are used for a wide range of purposes, including as preservatives, colorants, emulsifiers and fragrances. Some are used to help spread active ingredients, improve products’ dry time or help the skin absorb ingredients, among other uses.
The report notes that safer alternatives exist for the most dangerous chemicals it identified, and the program will prioritize those for which there are no profiles and are most widely used in products it checked. It found the mineral mica to be in 63% of assessed products, trimethylsiloxysilicate in 21% and nylon-12 in 20%.
Part of the problem in addressing the issue is industry secrecy – many companies legally claim chemical profiles are confidential business information. The program will address that by assessing health risks but not by revealing a chemical’s formulation.
Companies are encouraged to phase out high hazard chemicals, add chemical information to the database and shift to safer compounds, but the program is non-binding. Among those participating are major companies such as Ulta Beauty and Sephora.
“There’s a moment now where industry in many cases is searching for safer alternatives, and by sharing data and collaborating we can make the process of identifying safe chemicals easier, faster and less expensive,” Walsh says.
