Unauthorized or unlabeled nanos: over 80% of non-compliance in cosmetics
The DGCCRF (General Division of Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control) has published the results of 38 “nano” analyses carried out on cosmetic ingredients and products in 2020:
– Out of 11 ingredients sampled and declared as “non-nano” by the ingredient suppliers, 9 were identified as nanomaterials upon analysis (i.e. 82%); the professionals concerned were asked to comply.
– Of the 27 finished products sampled (mainly make-up and suncare products), 24 contained nanomaterials identified in the analysis but only one complied with the provisions relating to the presence of nanomaterials, bringing the non-compliance rate to 85%.
> In six sunscreen products, authorized UV filters were found but were not labeled [nano] in the list of ingredients.
> The remaining non-compliances were mainly related to make-up products containing unauthorized colorants.
These results concern companies of all sizes, from SMEs to multinationals. This investigation has resulted in labeling changes and voluntary market withdrawals. When professionals do not implement voluntary compliance actions, market withdrawals can be imposed by prefectural order. “The sector of suppliers of ingredients and manufacturers of cosmetics appeared to be insufficiently aware of the problem of nanomaterials,” concludes the DGCCRF. “Professionals do not always implement the analyses necessary to detect them and too often rely on insufficient technical documentation.” In short, there is still work to be done…
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Upcoming Nano Agenda
- Thematic school of the NaMasTE research group (Manufactured Nanomaterials, Toxicology, Ecotoxicology and Risks: towards controlled development)
- Public: engineers, researchers (contract and permanent), PhD students, industrialists and members of associations working on nanomaterials.
- The program includes the physical chemistry, biology and environmental sciences needed to understand the key aspects involved in the controlled development of nanomaterials.
→ Safer-by-design approaches, which integrate analysis of the production, characterization of properties, fate, and impacts (beneficial or harmful) of nanomaterials and products containing them throughout their life cycle - Dates: October 5 to 10, 2025
- Organizers: CNRS
- Website: https://namaste.sciencesconf.org
- Training intended for occupational physicians, occupational risk prevention specialists (IPRP), company prevention specialists, prevention department staff from Carsat, Cramif and CGSS, institutional prevention specialists (Dreets, Dreal, MSA…).
- Organizer: French National institute of research and security (INRS)
- October 6 to 10, 2025
- Website: www.inrs.fr/…/formation/…JA1030_2025
- 3pm – Conference by Irène Frachon on her fight to reveal the dangers of Mediator, the difficulties encountered by whistleblowers in the face of institutional and industrial pressure, and the importance of their role in defending public health.
- 4pm – Round table on the manipulation of scientific information and the defense of whistleblowers moderated by Raphaël Lévy (professor of physics at Sorbonne Paris Nord University, specialist in nanoparticles and their uses in biology, coordinator of the ERC NanoBubbles project dedicated to research into the corrective mechanisms of science), with :
- Maud Bernisson, post-doctoral fellow at LISIS (CNRS), member of the ERC NanoBubbles project, on the mechanisms of influence of pharmaceutical companies in the scientific field.
- Marc Samama, professor, anesthesiologist, co-chairman of the Commission des blocs et plateaux techniques de la CME de l’AP-HP, past Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Anaesthesiology, director of the Office de l’Intégrité Scientifique de l’AP-HP.
- Solène Lellinger, Senior Lecturer in the History and Philosophy of Health at Paris Cité University, specializing in the socio-history of medicines and their intersection with medical practices, and in particular the ways in which knowledge and information about medicines are produced.
- Cécile Barrois de Sarigny, Deputy Ombudsman in charge of whistleblower protection.
- With the support of the ERC Synergy NanoBubbles project
- Website: https://u-paris.fr/sante/irene-frachon-a-paris-une-conference-et-une-table-ronde-sur-lintegrite-scientifique