Lack of validated, regulatory-accepted methods for evaluating complex chemical safety endpoints without animal testing is quickly becoming a problem for industries and stakeholders beyond the cosmetics sector. Momentum is building to drive alternatives development as European authorities set their sights on an animal-free chemicals assessment future.

The Environmental Working Group’s annual sunscreen report finds that one in four products evaluated meet its standards for protection and ingredient avoidance, fairly consistent with the past three years but still worse than 2019. This year, “gold standard” sunscreen products bear the nonprofit’s “Verified” mark.

Cosmetics industry stakeholders agree the US Federal Trade Commission’s “Green Guides” are ripe for an update. Issues old and new need to be addressed and state-level laws and regulations taken into account along with national and international programs and standards, say leading companies, trade associations, and consumer advocacy groups in comments to the agency.

California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control proposes adding microplastics to its list of Candidate Chemicals, which would not have a regulatory impact at first but could lead to Priority Product selections, alternatives analyses, and regulatory responses to reduce or eliminate adverse impacts to public health and the environment. Microplastic-containing cosmetics are among products in the DTSC's line of sight.

Women’s Voices for the Earth and partner NGOs say innovation toward “inherently safer” products is direly needed in professional hair and nail salon products, which continue to make common use of chemicals linked to or suspected of causing adverse health effects in salon workers.

The relatively small number of stakeholders who responded to DTSC’s information call-in revealed that the vast majority of nail products likely contain Candidate Chemicals on California DTSC’s authoritative lists. The department will continue to evaluate CCs in nail care for potential regulation by the Safer Consumer Products program.