Across the Atlantic, a significant overhaul in beauty product regulations is unfolding, yet it seems unlikely that similar changes will occur in the United States anytime soon.
Beginning next week, European Union manufacturers and retailers must halt the production and sale of cosmetic items containing 15 chemicals newly prohibited under EU law.
Conversely, these same substances, identified as potentially harmful by European scientists, remain permissible in the majority of the United States. They continue to be available on store shelves, despite concerns over their safety.
Effective May 1, the EU’s new policy focuses on chemicals recently categorized as carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic to reproduction (CMR). This classification means scientific evidence suggests these chemicals could elevate cancer risk, induce genetic mutations, or adversely affect fertility and fetal health.
“In the EU, when a chemical receives a CMR classification, it is promptly added to the list of banned ingredients in cosmetics,” explained Dr. Alexa Friedman, a senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group (EWG), in a conversation with The Post.
“In the EU, when a chemical is classified as CMR, it is added to the list of ingredients banned in cosmetics,” Dr. Alexa Friedman, a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group (EWG), told The Post.
“Unlike the EU, the US does not have a similar mechanism that automatically bans chemicals classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic for reproduction.”
The ban includes products containing acetone oxime, which animal studies suggest can irritate the skin, eyes and respiratory system, and is considered a presumed carcinogen.
Theres also trimethyl borate. Short-term exposure can cause severe irritation to the eyes, skin and respiratory tract, while longer-term exposure has been linked to potential reproductive harm and damage to organs such as the kidneys.
And while some European rules allow companies time to phase out products already on the market, the bloc is skipping that step this time. That means any cosmetics containing the 15 newly banned substances must be physically removed from store shelves by next Friday, or retailers will face fines.
Why isn’t the US implementing a ban?
Before you start clearing out your makeup bag in a panic, pump the breaks.
“A lot of these chemicals you see at the industrial level or in laboratory settings,” said Dr. Stephanie Widmer, a medical toxicologist and emergency medicine physician at Northwell’s Northern Westchester Hospital. “It’s not necessarily that people are coming into contact with them regularly on an everyday basis, like in their lip gloss or shampoo.”
Still, if these chemicals are potentially dangerous, why are they allowed at all in the US?
“The EU gets emerging data (often from lab or animal studies) and they tend to quickly and pretty aggressively add potentially hazardous chemicals or substances to its CMR list,” Widmer said. “The United States tends to focus on actual exposure levels and wait for evidence of real world risk before they move.”
There is value in both approaches, she said: “Increased scrutiny and updated safety data are always helpful but it doesn’t necessarily mean these substances pose a meaningful risk to the average consumer.”
That doesn’t mean the US cosmetics market is risk-free. While the FDA regulates products and ingredients, it doesn’t review or approve most of them before they reach the market the way it does with drugs.
Instead, manufacturers are responsible for making sure their products are safe and properly labeled under FDA rules. If a product is found to be unsafe or misbranded and poses a risk of serious harm, the agency can step in and recall it.
Friedman insists that the cosmetic industry is “heavily under-regulated” in the US compared to other countries and called on the FDA to “take steps to protect consumers from harmful ingredients.”
The FDA did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
A closer look at the EU’s newly banned chemicals
Most of the 15 substances newly restricted in the EU aren’t actually cosmetic ingredients. They’re mainly used in industries like agriculture, chemical manufacturing and factories — not skincare or makeup.
“They’re being added to that list so that they don’t end up in any cosmetic products in the future,” Widmer explained.
In the US, some limits exist on these chemicals, but there is no broad rule banning them from being used in cosmetics nationwide. Here’s a breakdown:
- Acetone Oxime: used in industrial water treatment and as a stabilizer in chemical production
- Silver (Nano): an antimicrobial agent
- Silver (Massive): used in industrial manufacturing for its electrical and heat-conducting properties
- 2,3-Epoxypropyl Neodecanoate: used in coatings, adhesives and epoxy resins
- 1,4-Dichloro-2-nitrobenzene: an industrial building block used to produce other chemicals
- N,N’-Methylenediacrylamide: used to help form gels in laboratory testing and biomolecule research
- Sodium 3-(allyloxy)-2-hydroxypropanesulphonate: used in making water-soluble polymers
- Trimethyl Borate: a chemical used in industrial synthesis processes
- Perboric Acid (and its salts): used as bleaching and oxidizing agents in detergents and cleaning products
- Benzyl(diethylamino)diphenylphosphonium reaction mass: aAspecialized catalyst used in chemical and polymer production
- Formic Acid, reaction products with aniline: used in making dyes, resins and other industrial chemicals
- 2,3-Epoxypropyl Isopropyl Ether: used in producing specialty resins and modifying polymers
- Trimethyl Phosphate: used as a solvent and chemical building block
- Methylenediisocyanate (MDI) derivatives: used to make polyurethanes found in foams, adhesives and coatings
- 1,4-Benzenediamine, N,N’-mixed Ph and tolyl derivatives: used in rubber additives, antioxidants and specialty polymers
Tougher local regulations?
In the absence of stricter federal rules, some states are moving ahead on their own, passing laws to restrict potentially harmful ingredients in cosmetics.
For example, under California’s Assembly Bill 496, perboric acid and its sodium salts will be banned in cosmetics in the state starting in January 2027.
Still, experts say these kinds of bans don’t always reflect clear-cut danger.
“For a lot of these things that may be concerning and aren’t super well regulated in the US, the evidence for real acute harm or even long-term harm is low and it’s variable,” Widmer said.
“What I do say is that variety is key, so not using the same things over and over again for long periods of time so that you can limit your chronic, repetitive exposure, because it’s not always disclosed to us what’s in our products.”
She also encourages consumers to research products they use, including through the EWG’s free, publicly accessible Skin Deep cosmetics database, which includes more than 130,000 personal care products and their ingredients.
According to Friedman, none of the products listed in the database claim to contain any of the 15 chemicals newly banned in the EU.
