Could your cosmetics be harming your health?

Cosmetic companies are phasing out microplastics and so-called 'forever chemicals' to help protect consumers.

The cosmetic industry is big business. In 2023, the European market was worth €96 billion, with the UK being the fourth-biggest consumer, spending €11 billion, after Italy, France and the leader, Germany. More and more of us, both men and women, are routinely using cosmetics and the trend shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. But what are we actually putting on our hair and skin, and could it potentially cause us harm? The ingredients used in cosmetics are tightly regulated in the European Union and many other areas. Only approved ingredients can be used and this list is regularly updated based on emerging scientific evidence.

The process for banning an ingredient from cosmetics in Europe is that the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), which is responsible for the regulation of chemicals, first files an intention to restrict notice.

This is followed by a call for evidence, in which any interested person or group submits data and evidence for the safety or otherwise of the chemical in question.

This evidence is then evaluated by the various scientific committees. Then a recommendation is made and, finally, a decision is agreed upon by the European Commission. The process can take several years.

As companies are warned when changes in regulations are coming, however, they're able to voluntarily reduce and replace the substances that will be restricted in the future. This was seen, for example, with the plastic microbeads that used to be found in toothpastes and facial scrubs. Companies began phasing them out even before the ban on microbeads came into full effect in 2018, as the industry knew that microbeads would soon be banned, so products containing them were rapidly removed from store shelves.