The Swiss cantonal association of chemists (ACCS) found that 15 out of 184 samples of certain makeup products tested did not comply with the law, and 11 products have been banned from sale.
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The makeups examined include mascaras, eyeliners and eye shadows. Tests were done at importers, department stores, parfumeries, pharmacies, discount stores and beauty salons.
The association said “from a consumer perspective, the presence of carcinogenic substances in these products is unacceptable.”
The 15 offending products were found to contain carcinogenic nitrosamines. 11% of the mascaras and 8% of liquid eyeliners contained these substances, however no eye shadows or solid eyeliners did.
The ACCS said that the tests show that it is possible to make products without nitrosamines, because many products did not contain them. Nitrosamines come from contaminated raw materials or from substandard production or storage processes.
The brands involved were not disclosed, however they will have to clarify why their products contain these substances and improve their internal testing. The response from producers stated that the storage process has a large bearing on the level of nitrosamines in samples. Given this it is important to check use-by dates.
The ACCS says it wants to take concerted measures to improve and eliminate the excessive presence of nitrosamines in these products and plans further tests in coming years.
Le News contacted ACCS and spoke to Dr Patrick Edder who said that Swiss federal law prevents them from disclosing the names of the offending brands.
It seems that the only way to avoid the bad ones is to avoid them all.
More on this:
Swiss cantonal association of chemists press release (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
Swiss cantonal association of chemists press release (in German)
