Today we're talking about health policies in the US. Super exciting. If this is not your thing, I still think you should stick around and listen because I have my own personal opinions about some of the recent policy changes in the cosmetics industry. 

First I want to say that yes, these are some really big improvements. However, I think we still need to be our own advocates. We still need to read ingredient labels, we still need to be skeptical of products that are in the marketplace. 

I'm going to talk about two policies that recently changed in the US. One is a national policy and one is Washington state specific. 

First, I'm gonna talk about MoCRA which is known as the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022. This was signed into law at the very end of 2022 and it's the first time federal law has been updated in 80 years. Great news, right? It's been that long since we have had any improvements in our federal laws for personal care products. MoCRA impacts personal care products, professional salon products and some intimate care products. Basically, it requires mandatory reporting of adverse health effects and events caused by products. However, I want to say that what they define as adverse events are pretty terrible. So even though this law is requiring mandatory reporting for these adverse events, it does not necessarily require reporting for things that can cumulatively impact your health over time. These are very acute effects. What they define adverse health events are death, a life threatening experience, inpatient hospitalization, a persistent or a significant disability or incapacity, congenital anomaly or birth defect, infection, significant disfigurement, including serious and persistent rashes, second or third degree burns, significant hair loss or persistent or significant alteration, of appearance other than as intended.

Isn't that crazy?

So yes, they are required to report these adverse events, but how significant are these adverse events and there isn't really any inclusion of, again, the impacts of these ingredients over time, or any sort of health events that could happen over time of exposure to these toxic chemicals. The law also requires the FDA to establish good manufacturing practices. It requires cosmetic facilities to register with the FDA and to provide a list of products and product ingredients. It requires manufacturers to keep records that show product safety. It requires labeling of fragrance allergens for all cosmetics and labeling of ingredients in products professional use, products only used by salon workers, and allows the FDA to request records related to a product safety substantiation, and ingredients if there are concerns a product may be misbranded or adulterated. It gives the FDA the authority to request a mandatory recall of products that are misbranded and or adulterated. MoCRA does exempt small businesses if they have under $1 million in annual sales. So there is some leeway here for some companies.

MoCRA also preempts states from passing more stringent laws related to the registration, product listing, good manufacturing practices, and records and adverse event reporting or safety substantiation.

It also requires the FDA to establish a standardized testing method for detecting asbestos and talc containing products.

So you may have just glazed over listening to me list what the law does. And, again, I think this is a really great improvement, we haven't had any changes in the law for over 80 years. However, I think there are still more improvements needed. For example, fragrance is still protected under this law, only ingredients that are identified as allergens are required to be included on ingredient labels. So, you know, we have talked about how many 1000s of ingredients and chemicals hide within the term fragrance. And that's still going to happen, because only allergens are required to be disclosed on the ingredient label. The FDA also is the one that is going to be identifying the list of allergens and the threshold levels for disclosure.

There's already been a lot of research done in Europe on these allergens. And so one might think, does the FDA really need to do this when the work has already been done? So there's that thought. Also, as I said earlier, small businesses are going to be exempt from this if their sales are under $1 million a year. 

Finally, the last thought about this is that the FDA has been given funds, but is it truly enough to implement this to the level that it needs to be done? And do we trust the FDA to truly implement this the way that it should be to protect us? 

The second policy I want to talk about is a Washington state based policy which happens to be where I live. And it is the Toxic Free Cosmetics Act and it was passed May 15 2023. It's currently talked about as the strongest law regulating toxic chemicals in cosmetics. It bans PFAS, lead, phthalates, formaldehyde and formaldehyde releasers, and a bunch of other harmful chemicals. It requires state agencies to assess chemicals impacting vulnerable populations, because studies show that women of color are disproportionately exposed to harmful chemicals in cosmetics. What's interesting about this act, and you may not be surprised here, but the act was opposed by certain businesses. Those businesses include L'Oreal. Shiseido, Unilever and many others and they requested to veto the bill because of their concerns around banning lead and formaldehyde releasing agents. So clearly, these big corporations are still fighting these regulations that are being put into place to protect us, because it costs them a lot of money. They will have to change a lot of their practices in creating these cosmetics based on these laws. So they really don't have our best interest at heart. 

That's something to think about as you are purchasing your products. Does this company that I'm supporting by giving them my money really have my personal best interests at heart? Or do they continue to lobby against policies like this, that could end up helping mankind in general? 

The act also creates incentives for safe products, which is really great. My personal opinion on this is that it is definitely progress. However it will take years to implement, there likely is not enough funding. I am convinced that large corporations will continue to find ways to get around the rules, and they will increase their lobbying to fight against these acts, both federally and state wise. 

There's still no investigation into if these cosmetics companies are truly disclosing everything on their ingredient label. We know they're not disclosing everything, because they have that fragrance caveat where they can hide ingredients. Frequently I will look at an ingredient label, maybe it's a bright pink lipstick, and there's no colorant listed. Or maybe they claim that they are using some fruit or vegetable based colorant. I'm sorry, I really don't believe that you can get a bright color from a fruit or vegetable. It's been tried, it doesn't work. And these companies are likely lying to us and not disclosing everything on the ingredient label. So it's always good to have your radar up and be a little bit skeptical when reading ingredients because the lack of disclosure is really, really there. It's a lack of transparency and I don't want to be supporting any brands that are lacking in transparency.

I encourage you to read more to create your own personal opinion and to decide what companies and what brands you want to support with your dollars.