FDA consults personal care industry on nanotechnology test recommendations
Recommended tests released
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is consulting with American cosmetic manufacturers over draft testing guidelines for using nanomaterials in personal care products. The agency has released recommended tests determining whether nanomaterials in cosmetics are safe for consumers, measuring short term and long term toxicity levels. It is now calling on US cosmetics manufacturers to provide feedback.
Its document, Guidance for the Industry: Safety of Nanomaterials in Cosmetic Products, outlines the FDA’s current understanding on nanomaterial safety in cosmetics and suggests manufacturers may need to amend their tests, although it does not have plans to make these mandatory at present.
Currently, the FDA does not require federal pre-market approval for cosmetics sold in the US. Its Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said: “Understanding nanotechnology remains a top FDA priority. We are taking a prudent scientific approach to assess each product on its own merits and to not make broad, general assumptions about the safety of nanotechnology products.”
*http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocuments/ucm300886.htm