The European Union is now prohibiting using a key chemical ingredient in some gel nail polishes and different beauty merchandise.
The ban, which went into impact this week, targets using trimethylbenzoyl diphenylphosphine oxide or TPO, which was labeled as a sort of “reproductive toxicant” by European regulators, based on the European Commission.
TPO works as a photoinitiator, which means it responds to mild. In gel nail polish, it helps the polish set below ultraviolet or UV mild.
“It starts that reaction that gets it to cure,” stated Kelly Dobos, a beauty chemist and adjunct teacher on the University of Cincinnati’s James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy, who has been following the European regulation.
Some individuals might desire gel nail polishes over common nail polishes as a result of gel merchandise typically last more, are tougher in texture and dry extra shortly after a manicure or pedicure.
TPO-containing merchandise are primarily used in salons as a result of the chemical requires a nail lamp with UV mild to treatment or harden the gel, stated David Andrews, appearing chief science officer on the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit shopper advocacy group that maintains a database on private care merchandise that include potential toxins.
“Exposure to TPO is of greater concern for salon workers and consumers who frequently get professional gel nail polish,” Andrews stated in an electronic mail.
“The EU has banned the use of TPO both at home and professionally due to reproductive toxicity concerns identified in animal studies,” he added. “The toxicity studies completed on animals showed testicular abnormalities and reduced fertility.”
Although TPO has been related to some considerations in animal research, individuals who have loved receiving gel manicures shouldn’t panic, Dobos stated.
“What’s important to keep in mind is that those end points and those studies were from animal-feeding studies,” she stated. “When you’re thinking about nail polish, that’s clearly not how we’re exposed to TPO. You’re not eating the nail polish. So, it’s a different route of exposure.”
When utilized to the fingernails of people, “in my opinion, these materials, in the way that they are used, are very safe, but there are alternatives,” she stated.
“Some brands have started to think about reformulation, and some brands had already used alternate photoinitiators. So there are options without TPO. When you go to a salon, though, you don’t always get to see the label of the products you’re using. So you’re going to have to ask at the salon,” Dobos stated. “Or you can also just get a good old-fashioned nail polish. Old-fashioned nail polish has been around since the 1920s and has a long history of safe use. I still go for the old-fashioned nail polish myself.”
The new restrictions in Europe don’t imply gel polish itself is prohibited. The prohibition applies solely to these merchandise containing TPO, based on the Nail Manufacturer Council on Safety, a part of the Professional Beauty Association, a nonprofit advocacy group for magnificence professionals throughout the United States.
“Some headlines have caused unnecessary worry by calling this a ‘ban on gel polish,’ but that’s simply not true, consumers and professionals can be reassured: gel polish products remain fully available and legally marketable in the EU, provided they are formulated with approved alternatives,” Doug Schoon, chair of the Nail Manufacturer Council on Safety, stated in a assertion. “This is a regulatory restriction on a single ingredient, not a ban on an entire product category.”
Under the European ban, TPO-containing merchandise ought to not be offered, provided or used, based on the European Commission. Any TPO-containing merchandise nonetheless in inventory must be withdrawn from the market, and new merchandise containing TPO can’t be positioned in the marketplace.
Similar restrictions are anticipated to enter impact in the United Kingdom subsequent 12 months, however TPO stays in beauty merchandise in the United States.
Dobos stated she doesn’t foresee the FDA banning the ingredient on the federal stage.
The FDA has not responded to NCS’s request for remark.
However, “I wouldn’t be surprised if we see state-level activity. There have been a lot of state-level ingredient bans in recent years,” Dobos stated. For occasion, in 2023, California banned 26 chemicals used in many cosmetics, together with hair merchandise, bodywash and nail polish.
More producers might begin to take away TPO from their merchandise, Andrews stated, however he stated “it’s unlikely” the FDA will ban the chemical in the United States.
“The EU takes a proactive approach of restricting and banning chemicals that are identified as causing health harms, mostly in animals, while the US FDA approach is more just wait and see if anything bad happens,” he stated.