1 - Risk Assessment and Cosmetics

Abstract

The safety assessment of cosmetics is a risk-based process. Risk is a product of the intrinsic properties of a material and the exposure. Nothing is risk free; but if materials of low intrinsic health hazard are employed, then risks will be low, and if exposure is limited by either amount in contact or time of exposure, then again risks can be low. Risk is not a simple linear relationship between hazard and exposure. Just after World War II, the traditional method of assessing the safety of cosmetic products involved the use of animal models to generate data on irritancy and general toxicity. Tests were developed for the assessment of cosmetics that became standard methods for general toxicological assessment; the Draize tests for skin and eye irritation still form a part of toxicological assessment procedures. The EU Regulations specify the qualifications and the experience that are required to carry out an assessment; it is also stipulated that the assessor must have gained that experience within the EU. The EU Scientific Committee for Cosmetics and Non-Food Products, which has now reconstituted as the Scientific Committee for Cosmetic Products, has published guidelines for the assessment process for cosmetic ingredients.