Tighter controls on the health risks deriving from the use of cosmetics and ‘hunting’ for the presence of Pfas – the eternal chemicals as they are non-biodegradable – in beauty products. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved new rules on the obligation to report serious side effects.
Every year – the FDA pointed out – we receive more than 5,000 reports of adverse reactions to creams, eye shadows, lipsticks, lotions and so on. From now on, producers and distributors will have the obligation to make them known to the Agency within 15 days. Until now, reporting to the FDA was on a voluntary basis. But government experts now want to be able to analyze the real effects of PFAS – perfluoroalkyl substances, which include perfluoroacrylic acids – contained in cosmetics. Exposure to PFAS has been linked to an increased risk of various cancers, decreased fertility, and neurological problems in children.
“These substances can enter cosmetics in two ways – explained Linda Katz of the FDA – they are added voluntarily to increase the shine of beauty products, for example, or they are the result of cosmetic production processes”.
Serious side effects observed after the use of beauty products that fall under the reporting obligation include events that have put the consumer’s life in danger, death, the need for hospitalization, disability, resort to surgery, burns , but also more minor problems such as infections and hair loss.
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