The above Act went into effect on 1 January 2022 and requires companies selling beauty or personal care products to report the presence of hazardous ingredients. Companies are required to report products via the California Safe Cosmetics Reporting Portal (CSCP), if they sell cosmetic and personal care products in California that contain fragrance and/or flavour ingredients included on one or more of the 22 designated lists in the Health and Safety Code Section 111792.6.
Within the 22 designated lists, there are for example:
- Chemicals classified by the European Union as carcinogens, mutagens, or reproductive toxicants according to Category 1A or 1B in Annex VI to Regulation (EC) 1272/2008.
- Group 1, 2A, or 2B carcinogens identified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
- Persistent bioaccumulative and toxic priority chemicals that are identified by the federal Environmental Protection Agency National Waste Minimization Program.
- The Washington Department of Ecology’s Persistent, Bioaccumulative, Toxic (PBT) Chemicals identified in Chapter 173-333 of Title 173 of the Washington Administrative Code.
In addition to reporting the ingredients from the 22 designated lists, companies also have to highlight fragrance allergens. The subset of the California Fragrance and Flavor Ingredient Right to Know Act( CFFIRKA) reportable ingredients called “fragrance allergens” has a distinct reporting requirement. Fragrance allergens only need to be reported if they are present in a rinse-off cosmetic product at a concentration at or above 0.01 percent (100 parts per million) or in a leave-on cosmetic product at a concentration at or above 0.001 percent (10 parts per million). Fragrance allergen ingredients must be clearly identified in the CSCP Reportable Ingredients List. All other ingredients appearing on the list must be reported regardless of their concentration in the product.
It is important to note that the law does not require companies to report any of the following: ingredients not included in the designated lists, the weight or amount of an ingredient, or how a product is formulated (ie the recipe).
To assist with reporting, CDPH has compiled a list of reportable ingredients based on lists and reports available from the authoritative scientific bodies cited in the California Health and Safety Code Section 111791.5. 3097 chemicals are identified and they are listed by chemical name (not the same as the INCI name), together with their CAS number, any synonyms, hazard traits and a reference to the authorative source the data has been taken from.
But what about current Federal Law on cosmetics in the USA?
The recent activity in California may preview future federal developments. In the absence of federal regulation, it is not uncommon for individual states to begin applying their own particular requirements. Currently, the FDA applies relatively limited standards to cosmetics. However, it may soon face increased pressure to regulate cosmetics due to growing public concern, whether scientifically justified or arising from uncontrolled social media pressure.
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