EU legislations affecting safety data availability of cosmetic ingredients

With the introduction of the 6th and 7th Amendments (OJ L151, 32–37, 23 June 1993; OJ L066, 26–35, 11 March 2003) to the Cosmetic Products Directive (OJ L262, 169–200, 27 September 1976), imposing a testing and marketing ban on cosmetic products tested on animals, the retrieval of toxicological data on individual ingredients became of greater need.Since the majority of cosmetic ingredients are used for many other purposes than their cosmetic function, they fall under the scope of more than one EU Directive. An overview is given of EU legislation that could potentially affect the availability and interpretation of cosmetic safety data. It will become clear that, although cosmetics are regulated by a specific so-called “vertical” legislation, “horizontal” influences from other products’ legislations play a role since they determine the type and amount of data that theoretically could be found on the specific substances they regulate. This knowledge is necessary while performing extended searches in databases and becomes indispensable when initiating negotiations with manufacturers or suppliers for obtaining the safety data required.