Determination of formaldehyde in cosmetics or personal care products to help you ensure the safety of your products and maintain compliance with regulations such as the Cosmetics Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009
Formaldehyde (or formalin) was used in cosmetics as a preservative. Today, formaldehyde is recognized as a potentially harmful (class A according to DIMDI), it is subject to many restrictions and bans in cosmetic products according to current cosmetic regulations.
In Europe, formaldehyde was classified as a category 1B CMR substance within the Regulation (EU) 2019/8311 which was published in May 2019 by the European Commission to amend the Annexes II, III and V to the Cosmetics Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009. This meant that formaldehyde was added to the list of substances prohibited in cosmetic products - Annex II.
Whilst formaldehyde is prohibited, preservatives listed in Annex V called ’’formaldehyde releasers’’ are still allowed in cosmetic products as long as the formaldehyde concentration in the finished product does not exceed 0.05%.
Accurate and robust analytical testing is required to ensure the safety of your innovative beauty products to determine formaldehyde in skin care products or makeup. Across the cosmetics product value chain, there are multiple reasons, which are all focused on product safety, to deploy an accurate and sensitive method for quantitative determination of formaldehyde or acetaldehyde. These include raw materials quality control, support for optimisation of a formulation or to study the stability of a product.
Our Formaldehyde Testing Expertise
Our cosmetics analysis team provide accurate testing services, deploying sensitive and robust reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) assay methods to determine formaldehyde in your products. This method is suitable for both raw materials and a range of matrices found in finished products such as creams, lotions, shampoos, soaps, various raw materials. Our chromatography experts are well versed in method development and method verification and so where complex matrices may present challenges, our team are able to develop a suitable methodology.
Our Total Quality Assurance solutions
We offer a toolbox of Total Quality Assurance Solutions for cosmetics testing, supporting you across product innovation, raw materials qualification and ensuring the safety of your products. We offer a wide breadth of sector-dedicated technical solutions underpinned by 20 years of proven expertise in cosmetics testing delivered from our centre of excellence for cosmetics testing, LaCoMed, located near Chalon-sur-Saône in France.
We know that your technical needs are diverse and so our breadth of services include a spectrum of technical requirements from pharmacopeia methods through to bespoke advance method development. Supporting your value chain from raw materials sourcing, across production processes and through to finished products, we offer responsive analytical resources to ensure consistent raw material quality and technical consulting to resolve production issues. Our dedicated cosmetic analytical testing resources are integrated with our combined strengths of clinical studies, regulatory guidance and labelling review.
