Environmentally hazardous substances found in cosmetics

When the Swedish Chemicals Agency inspected cosmetics, environmentally hazardous substances were found in 26 percent of the products. 15 companies have been reported for prosecution.

"This was the first time we inspected cosmetics, and the results show a great lack of knowledge among companies," says Henrik Hedlund, Strategic Advisor at the Swedish Chemicals Agency and the leader of the inspection project.

The Swedish Chemicals Agency checked the presence of PFCAs, which are a group of banned PFAS substances, and the cyclic siloxanes D4 and D5. These substances are banned because they have hazardous properties for the environment, and some of them can also break down into substances that are hazardous to human health.

The products inspected were mainly webshops aimed at Swedish consumers. A total of 672 products were checked and the hazardous substances were found in 172 (25.6%) of these. The Swedish Chemicals Agency reported 15 companies for prosecution.

PFCAs were detected mainly in eye liners and lip liners, while D4 and D5 were found in hair conditioners and hair masks.

"One thing we have seen in this project is that cheap brands are not necessarily worse than expensive ones," says Henrik Hedlund.

The audit was carried out by checking lists of ingredients. The selection was risk-based, which means that the Swedish Chemicals Agency checked articles suspected of containing the hazardous substances. The results of the review therefore do not say what the market looks like as a whole.

The review is part of a pilot project at the European Chemicals Agency, ECHA, a project the Swedish Chemicals Agency has led and initiated. In the project, authorities in 13 EU member states analysed almost 4 500 products. As different countries used different sampling methods, the percentage of deficiencies varies from country to country.

Henrik Hedlund's advice to consumers

• To avoid cosmetics with PFCAs, look for perfluorononyl dimethicone in the list of ingredients of eye and lip liners.
• To avoid D4 and D5, look for cyclopentasiloxane in the list of ingredients on hair conditioners and hair masks.

Further information for companies

ECHA press release and report from the project. External link.