CTPA comments on Which? nanotechnology scare
The CTPA has spoken out about a report featured in consumer magazine Which? that casts doubts over the safe use of nanotechnology in cosmetics. “The cosmetics industry takes its legal responsibility to supply only safe products very seriously. We are disappointed that Which? feels that the stringent EU rules surrounding the manufacture and safety assessment of cosmetics are somehow not robust,” the CTPA stated on its website. A spokesperson for the association added: “The implication was that cosmetic products are not safety assessed with nanotechnology in mind – which is untrue. You couldn’t put nanotechnology on the market without assessment.”
The CTPA has spoken out about a report featured in consumer magazine Which? that casts doubts over the safe use of nanotechnology in cosmetics. “The cosmetics industry takes its legal responsibility to supply only safe products very seriously. We are disappointed that Which? feels that the stringent EU rules surrounding the manufacture and safety assessment of cosmetics are somehow not robust,” the CTPA stated on its website. A spokesperson for the association added: “The implication was that cosmetic products are not safety assessed with nanotechnology in mind – which is untrue. You couldn’t put nanotechnology on the market without assessment.”
The CTPA also stressed the positive benefits of both nano-emulsions, which help disperse product on the surface of the skin without breaking through the skin, and nano-pigments, which deflect UV light more effectively than larger particles when used in sun care formulations.
When researching the report, Small Wonder? Nanotechnology and Cosmetics, the publication contacted 67 cosmetics companies regarding their use of nanotechnology. Seventeen firms responded and only eight of these (The Body Shop, Boots, Nivea, Avon, L’Oréal, Unilever, Korres and The Green People) were willing to provide information about their use of nanotechnology. “The report is based on a questionnaire and companies don’t have to respond to a consumer questionnaire,” a CTPA spokesperson explained, adding that many of the companies that responded were the larger ones and that small companies with less staff may not have had the time.