Bisphenol A

Bisphenol A is used as the starting material of coatings for the inside of packaging cans, including aerosol cans, to prevent corrosion. Although most bisphenol A is used up in making the coating material, some usually remains in the final coating agent. The prevention of corrosion is essential to protect the contents from contamination and to ensure the integrity of the can, avoiding the risk of harm to human health. Bisphenol A is also used as a building block for some plastics.

Cosmetics legislation, however, acknowledges that unavoidable traces of some substances (including those that are banned as ingredients in cosmetic products) might be found to be present in products owing to their other possible uses, such as in packaging for example. The law requires that any such traces must be taken into account by the safety assessment, and that their presence must not constitute a risk of harm to human health.

The minute traces of bisphenol A that might be detected in some cosmetic products, after migration from packaging for example, do not constitute any risk of harm to human health.