REACH deadline leaves some cosmetic ingredients unregistered

Some personal care product ingredients have not been registered under the European Chemicals Agency’s (ECHA) second registration process under European Union (EU) chemical control system REACH. The ECHA says that by the 31 May deadline for registering chemicals made, used or imported in quantities of 100 tonnes or more, there were 984 substances left unregistered that companies had earlier promised to register.

Until they are registered, these chemicals cannot be used in the EU unless companies use less than 100 tonnes of them annually. These include ingredients such as coconut oil; hydrogenated and ethoxylated castor oil; hydrogenated palm oils and other palm oil-related substances; beeswax; paraffin oils; and chemicals such as copper carbonate, (used in lipstick); and more.

An ECHA spokesman said companies claimed they had not registered a substance “due to overestimation/precautionary estimates” when assessing what chemicals to register “e.g. for substances with tonnages less than but close to 100 tonnes…and changes in production volumes and business structures.”