Asbestos in Cosmetics Concerns Commerce Committee Chairman
A bipartisan bill was recently introduced in the Senate to expand the Food and Drug Administration's oversight of cosmetics. The bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has been introduced in past Congresses, without advancing. In the House, new Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., has had an interest in dangerous additives to imported cosmetics (see 1802020044 and 1708020028), and is working on a bill to expand the FDA's authority on cosmetics.
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The FDA asked some companies whose cosmetics contain asbestos to do a voluntary recall, and while retailer Claire's did recall products that had asbestos in 2017, it did not do so this year, the FDA announced March 5. Pallone reacted by saying, "Examples like Claire’s refusal to voluntarily recall their asbestos-tainted products demonstrates the need to modernize the current regulatory framework for cosmetic and personal care products to ensure that FDA can act to protect consumers when industry fails to do so. That is why I have already begun the process of circulating a bipartisan discussion draft on a proposal to update our laws for the first time in over eighty years."
Feinstein's and Collins' bill was introduced just after the FDA announcement. "Families trust that these products are safe, but unfortunately many ingredients have never been independently evaluated. Our bipartisan legislation, which has the support of numerous companies and consumer advocacy groups, would modernize FDA’s oversight authority and give consumers confidence that everyday personal care products won’t harm their health," Feinstein said.