The Safer Beauty Bill Package—a suite of four new bills proponents say will make beauty and personal care products safer for all by getting the “toxic” chemicals out, reducing unsafe chemical exposures for the most vulnerable, and making ingredient transparency the new standard —will be introduced in Congress this week.
 
The four bills are:
 
• The Toxic-Free Beauty Act of 2021;
• The Cosmetic Supply Chain Transparency Act of 2021;
• The Cosmetic Fragrance and Flavor Right to Know Act of 2021; and
• The Cosmetic Safety for Communities of Color and Professional Salon Workers Act.
 
Legislators behind the proposed bills, including Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) who is involved in all four, contend that they have a greater chance of passing because they are not partisan, and while not geared entirely to women as personal care products are used by all, there more women are in Congress today, which could increase support.  Further, there are also more women of color in the legislative branches, which could also increase support.

Below we will break down parts of each bill.
 
The Toxic-Free Beauty Act of 2021

The Toxic-Free Beauty Act of 2021, authored by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX). It would prohibit the use of 11 hazardous chemicals from beauty and personal care products sold in the US that are currently banned by the European Union, California, and Maryland. The bill would also ban the use of the entire class of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemicals. 
 
The Toxic-Free Beauty Act would prohibit the use of the following chemicals in both consumer beauty and personal care and professional salon products sold in the US: 

• Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) 
• Diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) 
• Formaldehyde 
• Paraformaldehyde 
• Methylene glycol 
• Quaternium-15 
• Mercury 
• Isobutylparaben 
• Isopropylparaben 
• m-Phenylenediamine and its salts 
• o-Phenylenediamine and its salts 
• The entire class of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) 
 
According to the bill authors, women of color and professional salon workers are most at risk for unsafe exposures because of the toxic chemicals in the beauty products marketed to them and/or commonly found in their workplaces. Other vulnerable populations include infants and children, whose bodies are constantly undergoing sensitive periods of development, pregnant women, and the elderly. 
 
Many multinational companies, major retailers like Target, CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid; and hundreds of clean cosmetic companies have voluntarily added many of these chemicals to their “restricted substances list” of chemicals that the brands they carry may not use. However, other companies large and small continue to sell beauty and personal care  products containing these toxic chemicals quite simply because they can. 
  
The Cosmetic Supply Chain Transparency Act of 2021

The Cosmetic Supply Chain Transparency Act of 2021, authored by Rep. Schakowsky (D-IL), would require upstream suppliers (including fragrance houses; formulating labs; and suppliers of ingredients, finished products, and raw materials) to provide brand owners with the ingredient disclosure, toxicity and safety data, and the certificate of analyses they need to make safer beauty and personal care products. 
 
According to bill proponents, the cosmetic supply chain is made up of multiple entities ranging from suppliers of raw materials, formulating laboratories responsible for manufacturing private label products, suppliers of fragrance and flavor formulations, packagers and chemical companies to the brand owner who puts its name on the product label. Authors contend that regardless of whether the flow of information along the cosmetic supply chain is accurate or not, it is the brand owner who carries the ultimate liability for the safety of the constituent ingredients and final product. Conversely, upstream contract manufacturers and ingredient suppliers are hidden from public scrutiny, review, and accountability, even from the FDA. 
 
According to the bill, no federal law currently requires the disclosure of ingredients or any other kind of transparency between entities in the cosmetic industry supply chain. Both large and small brand owners also carry reputational risk in the marketplace when they cannot obtain the accurate and reliable information they need from their suppliers to ensure they are making and selling the safest beauty and personal care products possible. 
 
This new bill would require that upstream suppliers including fragrance houses, formulating laboratories, contract manufacturers, and suppliers of ingredients, raw materials, and finished products provide to cosmetic companies upon request: 
• Full ingredient disclosure including ingredient names and chemical identity numbers (Chemical Abstract Service or CAS) 
• Toxicity and safety data for each chemical ingredient 
• Certificate of analysis for raw materials and
• Contaminant testing results 
 
The bill would levy penalties on suppliers who do not provide within 90 days the required data and information to brand owners who request it. 
 
 
The Cosmetic Safety for Communities
Of Color and Professional Salon Workers Act

The Cosmetic Safety for Communities of Color and Professional Salon Workers Act 2021, authored Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Rep. Lisa Blunt-Rochester (D-DE),  would federally mandate full salon product ingredient disclosure; access to translated safety data sheets; funding for research grants to identify chemicals of concern and the health impacts from cosmetics and personal care products used by these communities; funding for the development of green chemistry safer alternatives; FDA consultation with community stakeholders on ingredient review; and the creation of an inter-agency task force to share data and generate solutions to the toxic exposures experienced by these at-risk populations. 
 
Proponents say professional salon workers and communities of color bear a disproportionate burden of toxic exposures because of where they work, the products they work with and the toxic products marketed to them. Thousands of industrial chemicals are used to make the personal care and beauty products that communities of color and professional nail, hair and beauty salon workers use every day and many of these chemicals are linked to serious harm to human health. 
 
The bill's proponets say it is often difficult, sometimes even impossible, for salon workers to obtain Safety Data Sheets (SDS) which contain essential information on the health hazards associated with the salon product ingredients they are working with. Lack of access to Safety Data Sheets is compounded by language barriers, too, they insist.
 
This bill would: 

•Create an NIEHS grants program to research the chemicals of concern in products marketed to communities of color and used by professional beauty, hair and nail salon workers; the marketing tactics used by companies to sell these products; and develop community and salon education and interventions to respond to the problem. 
 
•Create an EPA grants program to create green chemistry solutions to hazardous chemicals in beauty products marketed to women of color and used by professional salon workers. 
 
•Require disclosure of ingredients in professional salon products, on product labels and on manufacturer websites. 
 
•Require the increased access to Safety Data Sheets (SDS) by salon owners and salon workers; and translated SDS in English, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Spanish and other languages upon request. 
 
•Create an Interagency Council for the purpose of sharing data and promoting collaboration on 
cosmetic safety concerns impacting communities of color, salon workers and other vulnerable populations. 
 
• Authorize the Secretary to request and utilize toxicity, use, exposure and safety data for chemicals used in cosmetics from other federal agencies and reputable sources. 
 
• Direct the FDA to consult with the Office of Minority Health and convene a meeting and advisory committee of community stakeholders to identify and consider ingredients linked to adverse health effects in salon workers and women and girls of color. 
 
Cosmetic Fragrance and Flavor Ingredient Right to Know Act of 2021

Lastly, the Cosmetic Fragrance and Flavor Ingredient Right to Know Act of 2021 (Rep. Schakowsky (D-IL) & Rep. Matsui (D-CA)) would require the disclosure of the secret, unlabeled, and often toxic fragrance and flavor chemical ingredients in personal care products.
 
Bill authors note that no federal law currently requires the disclosure of fragrance or flavor ingredients to consumers or regulatory agencies. This loophole allows dozens – sometimes even hundreds – of chemicals to hide under the word “fragrance” on the labels of beauty and personal care products with no regulatory oversight of the safety of those ingredients. The same loophole exists for flavors, which appear frequently in products like flavored lip gloss and chap-sticks marketed to children.
 
Anyone using personal care or beauty products is at risk of being exposed to secret hazardous fragrance and flavor chemicals and related harmful chronic health concerns, particularly vulnerable populations such as babies, children, communities of color, professional salon workers and pregnant women, according to the bill’s authors..
 
The Cosmetic Fragrance and Flavor Ingredient Right to Know Act of 2021 requires:

• On pack disclosure of any fragrance or flavor chemicals that appear on the 21 designated hazard lists referenced by the bill (including any updates to these designated lists).

• On pack disclosure of EU 26 fragrance allergens (including any updates to this regulation).

• Website disclosure of the hazardous chemicals that are required to appear on product labels, plus any other fragrance or flavor ingredients intentionally added to the finished cosmetic product at or above 100 ppm (the current mainstream industry best practice represented by what P&G and Unilever and J&J are currently doing; and the fragrance disclosure requirement for cleaning products sold in California and New York).

Happi will provide further updates and industry commentary as the legislation is formally introduced.