A cosmetics industry panel, prompted by recent criticism of sunscreen ingredients vitamin A and oxybenzone, plans to consider new safety data for the substances in 2011.
The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel added the ingredients to its re-review list at the group's Aug. 31 meeting.
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Sunscreen ingredients to be re-reviewed by Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel.
The CIR team plans to re-review retinyl palmitate after the National Toxicology Program (NTP) releases a report on the vitamin A compound, expected in 2011. CIR Director Alan Andersen said the reviewers will use "caution that we do not proceed beyond the new data."
In its 2010 sunscreen report released in May, the Environmental Working Group offered its read on preliminary NTP data, suggesting that findings from rodent studies show retinyl palmitate is photocarcinogenic.
The organization advised consumers to avoid sunscreens containing both retinyl palmitate and oxybenzone, which it suggests is a potential hormone disrupter.
Looking to "dismiss the misinformation that sunscreens are not safe" and reinforce the idea they protect against sun damage and cancer, the American Academy of Dermatology issued a report, maintaining there is no evidence that retinyl palmitate in sunscreens causes cancer.
Dr. Steven Q. Wang of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and his colleagues evaluated the compound from several points of view (J. Amer. Acad. Dermatol. 2010 [doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2010.07.015]), and concluded that "there is no convincing evidence" that retinyl palmitate, a form of vitamin A, is carcinogenic in sunscreens" (see "Editorial Refutes EWG's Sunscreen Finding").
The council, with support from FDA and the Consumer Federation of America, established CIR in 1976 to review and assesses the safety of ingredients used in cosmetics in an open, unbiased, and expert manner, and publishes the results in peer-reviewed scientific literature, according to CIR's website.
The CIR panel will re-review seven other ingredient groups in 2011. Typically the group considers rereviewing ingredients every 15 years, as well as any substances that it feels should be re-examined on account of emerging science or public debate.
Hair colorants HC Red No. 1 and 4-chlororesorcinol both will receive another look next year, as well as foaming agent cocomide DEA and preservatives glutaral and methyldibromo glutaronitrile.
Ingredients reviewed in 1996 that the panel will not review in 2011 include butoxyethanol, dibutyl adipate, di-t-butylhydroquinone, disperse yellow 3 and sodium m-nitrobenzenesulfonate.
Not all ingredients on priority lists are reviewed by the panel. Ingredients from the 2009 and 2010 lists that are not being reviewed actively include amino acids, chamomile and talc. Amino acids have been "reprioritized," while work on chamomile and talc has been tabled, CIR says.
FDA currently is reviewing talc and talc-containing cosmetic products in the U.S. for asbestos contamination following reports of the carcinogen in cosmetics overseas. Its survey is expected to continue through 2010.
Disclosures: Skin & Allergy News Digital Network and "The Pink Sheet" are published by Elsevier.