{"id":6612,"date":"2025-09-29T08:00:03","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T08:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/?p=6612"},"modified":"2025-09-29T03:16:35","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T03:16:35","slug":"the-regulation-of-cosmetics-in-the-u-s-where-its-been-and-now-is-headed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/?p=6612","title":{"rendered":"The Regulation of Cosmetics in the U.S.: Where It\u2019s Been and Now Is Headed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Addison Fouts<\/em><\/p>\n

Associate Editor <\/em><\/p>\n

Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2027<\/em><\/p>\n

The cosmetics industry in the U.S. has fallen behind in safety regulations compared to its European counterparts. The European Union<\/a> has banned roughly 1,300 different ingredients in personal care products while the U.S. has banned merely 11. The last major update to regulations in the U.S. was in 2022 with the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act (MoCRA<\/a>)<\/u>. However, there is still work that needs to be done to address the health and safety risks that the cosmetics industry poses. The “Safer Beauty Bill Package” is just one proposed regulation that would majorly alter how personal care products are regulated in the U.S.<\/p>\n

How are cosmetics currently regulated?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) oversees the cosmetics industry, regulating what is allowed in your favorite makeup and personal care products. MoCRA is the most recent Act<\/a> to bolster safety for consumers. MoCRA provides the FDA with tools to consistently regulate cosmetics and make the regulations<\/a> uniform. One of the most important aspects of MoCRA is requiring cosmetics manufacturers to be more transparent about the ingredients they use. Manufacturers must list each product with the FDA, the ingredients used in the product, and the location of where the product is manufactured. Similarly, they must also disclose<\/a> each fragrance allergen used.<\/p>\n

Additionally, manufacturers must prove that their products are safe with \u201cadequate\u201d evidence. This evidence must be supported by studies consistent with scientific principles<\/a>, including standardized approaches, toxicological testing, and shelf-life testing. Manufacturers can use safety assessments from the Cosmetic Ingredient Review to ensure their products meet the necessary standards. They must also include contact information<\/a> for reporting adverse events and fragrance allergens on their label. However, there are some exemptions for small businesses<\/a> which is something to keep in mind when you want to make informed decisions about products to buy. Exemptions<\/a> cover certain “Good Manufacturing Practices,” including product listing and registration requirements. However, exemptions<\/a> do not apply to products that go in or near the eye, are injected, taken internally, or designed to last more than 24 hours without consumer removal.<\/p>\n

Where are cosmetics regulations heading? <\/strong><\/p>\n

In July 2025, Representatives Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, Lizzie Fletcher of Texas, Doris Matsui of California and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts reintroduced the \u201cSafer Beauty Bill Package<\/a>.\u201d The package includes four bills aimed to increase safety regulation in the cosmetics industry. The bills are meant to build on the progress made with MoCRA. The bills include the Toxic-Free Beauty Act, Cosmetic Hazardous Ingredient Right to Know Act, Cosmetic Safety Protections for Communities of Color and Professional Salon Workers Act, and finally, the Cosmetic Supply Chain Transparency Act. These bills<\/a> will ban 18 of the most hazardous chemicals from cosmetic products, improve ingredient transparency, force supply chain transparency to make products safer, and to protect vulnerable communities who face toxicity at higher rates. One example is the \u201cCosmetic Hazardous Ingredient Right to Know Act<\/a>\u201d which would require disclosure of unlabeled toxic fragrance and flavor chemicals on product labels and brand websites. Under the Act, product packaging would need to list all ingredients and direct consumers to the brand\u2019s website for more detailed information relating to health and safety of the products. Online, companies would have to provide a complete ingredient list, explain the function of each fragrance or flavor chemical, link to safety data sheets, and flag any ingredients that scientific research has connected to adverse health effects.<\/p>\n

Adverse health effects linked to chemicals in cosmetic products<\/strong><\/p>\n

On average, women use 12 products<\/a> daily that contain 168 different ingredients while men use only 6 products with 85 different ingredients. The increased exposure to cosmetic products may lead to adverse health issues, particularly for women. Many of these products contain chemicals that act as hormone disruptors. Hormone disruptors can cause concern because estrogen<\/a> can make hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer develop. Breast Cancer Prevention Partners <\/a>are advocating to eliminate toxic chemicals linked to breast cancer, like ethylene oxide, which is commonly found in fragrances, and parabens, commonly found in sun lotion products and shampoo. Furthermore, women of color are disproportionately<\/a> exposed to unsafe chemicals compared to their white counterparts. One reason is the increased use of chemical hair relaxers. Long-term use of chemical hair relaxers has been linked to a higher risk of developing uterine cancer among postmenopausal<\/a> women. In a study<\/a> done by Skin Deep, researchers found that more than a quarter of the hair relaxer products studied contain at least one formaldehyde-releasing preservative. Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen and has been a long time focus of beauty justice. However, despite efforts, the FDA still has not banned formaldehyde<\/a> from hair straightening products.<\/p>\n

The Future of Cosmetics Regulation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stronger regulations of the cosmetics industry are essential to protecting consumers\u2019 health and trust. The proposed \u201cSafer Beauty Bill Package<\/a>\u201d represents the necessary first step toward meaningful reform in the U.S. By banning toxic chemicals, mandating transparent supply chains, and improving labeling, these bills would empower consumers to make informed choices. Critics may argue that compliance<\/a> will be costly or burdensome for companies, but consumer safety must outweigh the potential issues. Stricter regulations that prevent toxic exposures are a public health obligation that cannot be ignored.<\/p>\n

Moreover, while the \u201cSafer Beauty Bill Package\u201d initially targets 18 of the most hazardous chemicals, that is not enough to eliminate toxic ingredients from the industry. Ingredient disclosure requirements are just as critical as the initial bans themselves, because they create market pressure for companies to replace harmful chemicals with safer alternatives. \u201cThe Safer Beauty Bill Package\u201d is the first step in a long journey to create a safer cosmetics industry. It is crucial that the \u201cSafer Beauty Bill Package\u201d gets passed into law to expand on MoCRA regulations and create a safer beauty industry for U.S. consumers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The cosmetics industry in the U.S. has fallen behind in safety regulations compared to its European counterparts. The European Union has banned roughly 1,300 different ingredients in personal care products while the U.S. has banned merely 11. The last major update to regulations in the U.S. was in 2022 with the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act (MoCRA). However, there is still work that needs to be done to address the health and safety risks that the cosmetic industry poses. The “Safer Beauty Bill Package” is just one proposed regulation that would majorly alter how personal care products are regulated in the U.S.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":177,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[265,529,813,814,1761],"class_list":["post-6612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fda","tag-beauty","tag-cosmetics","tag-fda-compliance","tag-fda-regulations","tag-safety-regulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/177"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6612"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6614,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6612\/revisions\/6614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}