By: Lea Riell, Staff Editor

February 21, 2025

Your daily morning routine might be worth skipping. The average adult uses nine personal care products a day, risking exposure to 126 different chemical ingredients. [1] Many of these chemicals are carcinogens.[2] Unsurprisingly, women are at a higher risk of being exposed to more carcinogenic chemicals in their everyday beauty products.[3] Why are toxic chemicals used in beauty products? Because they are cheaper for the company.[4]

The rampant use of toxic chemicals in cosmetics is the result of cosmetic products being largely unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Cosmetics remained the least regulated category within the FDA for many decades. [5] Theorists have suggested that this lack of regulation is due to misogynistic ideals about cosmetics and their association with femininity.[6] Additionally, examining this lack of regulation through an intersectional lens uncovers a disparate impact on women of color.[7] Cosmetic industries market heavily toward communities of color while pushing beauty norms centered around white beauty standards.[8] This results in women of color being at a higher risk of being exposed to unregulated and harmful cosmetic products.[9] Cosmetic regulation will play a key role in addressing these disparities and associated human health concerns.  

In 1938, the first law that regulated cosmetics in the United States, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, was passed.[10] Efforts to reform cosmetic safety have been met with pushback from industry players.[11] In 2022, the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act was enacted.[12] This act aimed to improve the safety of cosmetics through heightened regulation of cosmetic producers. MOCRA includes requirements for facility registration, adverse effects reporting, mandatory recalls, product ingredient labeling and safety substantiation. [13] Despite these new requirements, MOCRA fails to address the issue of unsafe cosmetics in the industry.

Under MOCRA, cosmetic producers must adhere to safety substantiations. MOCRA requires that cosmetic producers conform to “adequate substantiation of safety” regarding their products.”[14]  “Adequate substantiation of safety” is defined as conducting tests or studies that produce a “reasonable certainty” that the product is safe.[15] Further, “safe” only encompasses “customary or usual” uses of the product.[16]  MOCRA does not set forth specific tests used to determine if a product is safe.[17] Moreover, MOCRA holds cosmetic producers to a weak standard to prove product safety. This allows cosmetic producers to downplay the risks of certain chemical ingredients.[18]

MOCRA requires product ingredient labeling but fails to address the bigger issue of what ingredients are actually being used. The United States currently has only 11 prohibited cosmetic ingredients.[19] In comparison, the European Union has banned more than 1,300.[20] The United States takes a reactionary approach by only banning ingredients proven to be harmful to human health.[21] The European Union takes a proactive approach by banning ingredients that might be harmful.[22] MOCRA’s product labeling requirement is largely performative in light of many toxic chemicals still being frequently used in products. Only requiring product labeling allows cosmetic producers to continue putting harmful ingredients in cosmetics under the guise of transparency.   

Adding fuel to the fire, recent efforts by the Trump administration to cut federal funding puts acts like MOCRA in jeopardy.[23]  States have taken measures into their own hands and enacted laws banning harmful ingredients from cosmetics including polyfluoroalkyl substances, also called forever chemicals.[24] These efforts to remove toxic chemicals from cosmetics are promising. However, improvement is still needed to have truly safe cosmetics. 

The failure to properly regulate the cosmetics industry is the result of bad legislation and a disregard for women and minorities.[25] The common use of toxic chemicals in cosmetics is a serious health issue affecting many people.[26] The FDA needs to start taking a more proactive approach to regulating and banning toxic chemicals in cosmetics. Additionally, cosmetic producers need to start prioritizing consumer health over capitalistic greed.

[1] Exposures add up – Survey results, Env’t Working Grp. (Dec. 15, 2004), https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/2004/12/exposures-add-survey-results.

[2] Exposures add up – Survey results, Env’t Working Grp. (Dec. 15, 2004), https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/2004/12/exposures-add-survey-results.

[3] Exposures add up – Survey results, Env’t Working Grp. (Dec. 15, 2004), https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/2004/12/exposures-add-survey-results.

[4] Toxic Chemicals in Personal Care Products: The Need for the Toxic Free Beauty Act, Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (Aprl. 9, 2022), https://www.safecosmetics.org/blog/toxic-chemicals-in-personal-care-products-the-need-for-the-toxic-free-beauty-act/#:~:text=Why%20Are%20Harmful%20Chemicals%20Still,Free%20Beauty%20Act%20of%202021!

[5] Colleen Campbell, Intersectionality Matters in Food and Drug Law, 95 U. Colo. L. Rev. 1, 4 (2024).

[6] Colleen Campbell, Intersectionality Matters in Food and Drug Law, 95 U. Colo. L. Rev. 1, 4 (2024).

[7] Colleen Campbell, Intersectionality Matters in Food and Drug Law, 95 U. Colo. L. Rev. 1, 6 (2024).

[8] Colleen Campbell, Intersectionality Matters in Food and Drug Law, 95 U. Colo. L. Rev. 1, 6 (2024).

[9] Colleen Campbell, Intersectionality Matters in Food and Drug Law, 95 U. Colo. L. Rev. 1, 6 (2024).

[10] Anh-Thi Le, French-Tipped Formaldehyde: Why FDA’s Statutory Framework Enables Toxic Chemical Exposures in Manicure Products; How Rulemaking or Congressional Action Can Curb Its Detrimental Effect on Occupational Health, 75 Admin L. Rev. 393, 397 (2023).

[11] Anh-Thi Le, French-Tipped Formaldehyde: Why FDA’s Statutory Framework Enables Toxic Chemical Exposures in Manicure Products; How Rulemaking or Congressional Action Can Curb Its Detrimental Effect on Occupational Health, 75 Admin L. Rev. 393, 398 (2023).

[12] Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 (MoCRA) U.S Food & Drug Admin. (Jan. 17, 2025), https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/registration-listing-cosmetic-product-facilities-and-products#:~:text=The%20Modernization%20of%20Cosmetics%20Regulation,products%20many%20consumers%20use%20daily.

[13] Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 (MoCRA) U.S Food & Drug Admin. (Jan. 17, 2025), https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/registration-listing-cosmetic-product-facilities-andproducts#:~:text=The%20Modernization%20of%20Cosmetics%20Regulation,products%20many%20consumers%20use%20daily.

[14] 21 U.S.C. §364d(a).

[15] 21 U.S.C. §364d(c)(1).

[16] 21 U.S.C. §364d(c)(2).

[17] Anh-Thi Le, French-Tipped Formaldehyde: Why FDA’s Statutory Framework Enables Toxic Chemical Exposures in Manicure Products; How Rulemaking or Congressional Action Can Curb Its Detrimental Effect on Occupational Health, 75 Admin L. Rev. 393, 405 (2023).

[18] Anh-Thi Le, French-Tipped Formaldehyde: Why FDA’s Statutory Framework Enables Toxic Chemical Exposures in Manicure Products; How Rulemaking or Congressional Action Can Curb Its Detrimental Effect on Occupational Health, 75 Admin L. Rev. 393, 405 (2023).

[19] Prohibited & Restricted Ingredients in Cosmetics, U.S Food & Drug Admin. (Feb. 25, 2022), https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetics-laws-regulations/prohibited-restricted-ingredients-cosmetics

[20] Differences in cosmetic regulations between the EU and U.S, Pluschem, (Apr. 8, 2023), https://pluschem.com/blog/eu-and-us-cosmetic-regulations/

[21] Differences in cosmetic regulations between the EU and U.S, Pluschem, (Apr. 8, 2023), https://pluschem.com/blog/eu-and-us-cosmetic-regulations/

[22] Differences in cosmetic regulations between the EU and U.S, Pluschem, (Apr. 8, 2023), https://pluschem.com/blog/eu-and-us-cosmetic-regulations/

[23] The Upshot Staff, Which Federal Programs Are Under Scrutiny? The Budget Office Named 2,600 of Them, (Jan. 28, 2025), https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/01/28/upshot/federal-programs-funding-trump-omb.html

[24] Clara Hudson, ‘Forever Chemicals’ Reckoning Hits Cosmetics With New State Laws, Bloomburg L. (Jan. 27, 2025), https://news.bloomberglaw.com/esg/forever-chemicals-reckoning-hits-cosmetics-with-new-state-laws. (Forever chemicals are named as such because they are resistant to breaking down)

[25] Colleen Campbell, Intersectionality Matters in Food and Drug Law, 95 U. Colo. L. Rev. 1, 6 (2024).

[26] Exposures add up – Survey results, Env’t Working Grp. (Dec. 15, 2004), https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/2004/12/exposures-add-survey-results.