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CTPA understands that the Environment Agency’s Chemical Compliance Team has conducted an enforcement project to look for the presence of the ingredient perfluorononyl dimethicone in cosmetic products on the GB market. It has identified a number of product ranges that declare perfluorononyl dimethicone as an ingredient on the packaging. The Chemical Compliance Team is in the process of contacting sellers, distributors, and UK manufacturers and importers of the affected products, to inform them of the regulatory controls of perfluorononyl dimethicone and its status as a banned substance in the UK.
Enforcement authorities consider that perfluorononyl dimethicone meets the definition of a perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)-related compound due to its degradation pathway. PFOA-related compounds are one of a group of substances covered by the ‘PFOA’ entry in Annex I of the UK Persistent Organic Pollutant Regulations. Any companies previously using this ingredient should ensure that their stock is now compliant.
Background to the POPs Regulation
PFOA and its related compounds are a group substances banned under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants – this is an international agreement that places controls on certain substances that persist in the environment, bioaccumulate in living organisms, and are proven to cause toxic effects for humans and wildlife. The UK POPs Regulations implement the UK's commitment under this international agreement by banning the manufacture, use, and supply, of the listed chemicals as substances, in mixtures, or in articles and their component parts.
