Banned toxic chemicals discovered in hundreds of cosmetic products | indy100

Experts warn of young kids using anti-aging skincare products

Fox - 13 News / VideoElephant

A new study has lifted the lid on hundreds of cosmetic products containing ingredients that are banned.

On Wednesday, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) revealed its findings after investigating almost 4,500 cosmetic products across 13 European countries.

The shocking results found 285 (six per cent) products containing banned ingredients, including hair masks, conditioners, lip liners and eyeliners.

The Helsinki-based agency explained that the substances aren't allowed in cosmetics as they have been identified as persistent organic pollutants or "very persistent, (very) bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT/vPvB) that adversely affect human health and the environment."

The use of such ingredients is banned under the Stockholm Convention on POPs or restricted under the REACH Regulation.

Countries where rules apply include Sweden, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Lichtenstein, Malta, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway and Romania.

Ingredients found include:

Perfluorononyl dimethicone
Perfluorooctylethyl triethoxysilane
Perfluorononylethyl carboxydecyl PEG-10 dimethicone; and
Cyclopentasiloxane (D5), cyclomethicone (a blend of D4, D5 and D6), cyclotetrasiloxane (D4).

Perfluorononyl dimethicone was primarily found in eyeliners and lipliners, in pencil or crayon form. D4 and D5 were found in hair conditioners and hair masks, according to the study.

The inspection was carried out by simply checking the ingredient list, which is a measure consumers can also take.

"The enforcement authorities have taken measures to remove the non-compliant products from the market. In most cases, the first step was issuing written advice to guide suppliers on how to comply with the law. At the time of writing the report, investigations were still ongoing in about half of the cases," the study authors concluded.

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.