'Certified safe' personal care products may not undergo finished-product lab testing, analysis finds
None of the certification programs consumers rely on to find safer personal care products require laboratory testing of the products they certify, according to a new analysis. All judge chemical safety from ingredient lists and paperwork supplied by manufacturers, an approach that cannot catch contaminants, impurities or anything else that was never meant to be in the bottle.
A new analysis reveals that certified safe personal care products do not undergo finished-product lab testing, despite concerns over contaminants and undisclosed chemicals. Certification programs, which rely on ingredient lists and manufacturer information, cannot detect impurities or unforeseen substances in the bottles. Recent research, published in the journal Standards, tested 113 personal care and cleaning products and found numerous unlabeled chemicals with known health hazards, as well as instances where chemicals contradicted package claims.
Johanna R. Rochester, lead author and senior scientist at the Million Marker Research Institute, emphasized that certification processes check the recipe but miss the final product's composition. Sixteen of the 18 reviewed programs, including third-party certifications and retailer standards, do not require routine laboratory testing.
Instead, they use targeted testing for specific substances, which only identifies anticipated chemicals. The researchers propose adding analytical testing as a supplementary layer to existing certification, particularly for high-exposure products like those used by babies, pregnant women, and on sensitive areas. This approach could enhance transparency and ensure product safety, crucial given the frequency of product recalls and potential legal implications for companies relying solely on documentation for verification.
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