Survey of Chemical Substances in Consumer Products, No. 88 2007 – A survey and health assessment of cosmetic products for children

A survey and health assessment of cosmetic products for children

1 Introduction

A number of cosmetic products, especially shampoo, soap, eau de toilette and hair dyes, are marketed as products for children. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency had the assumption that the market for this product group is increasing. The packaging of the products is often very colourful and can be designed as for instance cartoon figures. This causes that the products can also be used as toys in some cases.

The products are regulated by the Cosmetics Statutory Order (Danish: Kosmetikbekendtgørelsen) and in some cases also the regulations for toys. It is the Danish Safety Technology Authority who as a competent authority assesses which products coming under the regulations for toys. In this project there is a distinction between products being assessed to be designed as for instance figures and therefore can be used as toys, and products which according to the indicative statement of the Danish Safety Technology Authority are assessed to be covered by the regulations for toys.

The purpose of the project was to

Map whether cosmetic products for children contain substances which can be problematic for children’s health. Focus is especially on perfume substances, preservatives and colouring agents.
Map whether the product packaging causes that the products can be used as toys.
Investigate whether cosmetic products for children meet the labelling requirements for cosmetics (i.e. whether the declaration of contents and producer is stated) and possibly also for toys (CE marking).
Assess possible health consequences of the found constituents in cosmetic products for children.
Assess possible health consequences of the found constituents in the packaging of products which can be used as toys.