You may have read reports about a new study from the US: Impact of Skin Care Products on Phthalates and Phthalate Replacements in Children: the ECHO-FGS | Environmental Health Perspectives | Vol. 132, No. 9 (nih.gov), which claims that phthalates detected in children are from their use of personal care products and that the substances could cause toxic effects. We understand that such stories could cause alarm and would like to provide facts about the safe use of phthalates in personal care products.
It is important to stress that all the phthalates considered in this study are banned from use in cosmetics and personal care products in the UK and the EU. In addition, the study did not investigate whether the phthalates were present in the personal care products used by the children. Therefore the study provides no indication of where the phthalates may have originated from and there is no evidence to support the suggestion that they resulted from the personal care products.
Confidence in the safety of cosmetic products and their ingredients
All cosmetic products and their ingredients which are placed on the UK and EU market must be safe, by law. In the UK, the manufacture and supply of cosmetic products are governed by the UK Cosmetics Regulation (UKCR). Legislation covering the safety of cosmetic products in the UK and EU has been in place for over 40 years.
All ingredients within cosmetic products must be safe and their ingredients are regularly reviewed by independent scientists to ensure that the latest scientific information is taken into account. If the panel of independent scientists has any doubt about an ingredient’s safety when used in a cosmetic product, the ingredient will be banned. The UKCR contains extensive Annexes of banned and restricted substances.
Before it is made available for sale, each cosmetic product must undergo a safety assessment by a duly qualified and experienced safety assessor, whose qualifications are stated in the UKCR. The UKCR also provides guidance on how this safety assessment must be carried out. The safety assessment takes account of all the ingredients used in the cosmetic product, how the product will be used, by whom, where and how often. Products aimed at children under the age of three years old must also undergo an extra safety assessment.
What is this new study about?
The study, conducted in the US, measured levels of a number of phthalates and phthalate metabolites in children’s urine. The children had been asked a number of questions including the types of cosmetic products used in the 24 hours before the urine samples were taken. Only the use of cosmetic products is linked to the presence of phthalates and phthalate metabolites in the urine samples in the study. It was not determined whether the products contained phthalates. More critically is the fact that, as mentioned, NONE of the phthalates named in the study are used in cosmetics and personal care products in the UK.
