California extends deadline for reporting cancer chemicals in cosmetics

Under the California Safe Cosmetics Act of 2005, the bill came into force in 2007 and required companies to divulge details of products containing certain ingredients before October 2009.

This deadline has now been extended, initially for a period of two month, and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is now urging companies to supply the required information before December 15 2009.

CDPH said the deadline extension was due to the large quantity of data being submitted.

The bill states that all manufacturers, packers and distributors should flag up the use of ingredients known or suspected to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm.

Updated list of chemicals​

Back in September CDPH published an updated list of all chemicals that are suspected or known carcinogens and reproductive toxins in order to assist companies in the reporting of products, which can be found here.

Earlier in the summer, CDPH activated an online reporting system which has completely replaced the paper system.

Ultimately, the plan is to make the list of products available to consumers a few months after the deadline for reporting.

The California Safe Cosmetics Act of 2005 (SB 484), was controversial when proposed and the industry trade body, the Personal Care Products Council, then the CTFA, led a campaign against the Bill.

The campaign described the Bill as an 'anti-cosmetics legislation and is encouraging all of the Senate committee members to vote against it.

CTFA also claimed that the Bill would be difficult to implement and would mean some companies would be forced to divulge trade secret formulations.