CIR Panel approves use of cosmetics with Phthalates as safe

02 Jun '05

2 min read

CIR confirmed the use of phthalates in cosmetics and personal care products is supported by an extensive body of scientific research and data that confirms safety.

The independent Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel recently completed another extensive review of phthalates as used in cosmetics and reconfirmed them to be "safe as used" in cosmetics. CIR is an independent, non-profit scientific body that holds open public meetings and publishes its findings in a peer reviewed journal. Its seven voting medical and scientific members must meet the same conflict of interest standards as persons serving on the FDA's expert advisory committees. FDA, the Consumer Federation of America, and industry serve as non-voting members on the CIR Expert Panel.

By law, cosmetic ingredients, including phthalates, must be listed among the ingredients on product labels, unless they are added as a part of the "fragrance." As a fragrance might contain hundreds of fragrance materials, the law recognizes that such information on individual materials, present in very small quantities, would not be practical to put on the label, and requires instead that the term"fragrance" be listed.

The Federal Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Health Canada, and other scientific bodies have examined phthalates used in cosmetics and have not restricted that use.

The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act requires that cosmetics and their individual ingredients must be safe and that labeling must be truthful and not misleading. FDA's legal authority over cosmetics is comparable with its authority over other FDA-regulated products, such as foods, nonprescription drugs, and nonprescription medical devices. FDA can take immediate action to stop the sale of any product that does not meet these standards.

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