[Chinese Packaging Network News] The so-called "leadership can not be abandoned," for the natural beauty of women, cosmetics are an integral part of daily life. I believe many people have the following feelings: Looking at the array of beautiful display products on the counters of the brands, what powder boxes, lipsticks, and moisturizers, they just feel dazzled and can not wait to see what they are looking for. The shopping bag, and then wiped them one by one, waited for the skin to be white overnight, the acne was gone, the wrinkles were light, and in general one day was even more beautiful.
However, with the increase of branded products on the market, many negative news have come to an end. In 2006, many products of SK-II were found to contain banned substances such as chromium and ytterbium; in 2007, the incidents of leaded lipsticks were even more involved in the United States. More than 60% of cosmetic brands on the market. This kind of news makes consumers pay more and more attention to the safety of cosmetics, so many customers now look at the cosmetic formula table to determine whether they contain harmful substances. However, whether or not you know that harmful substances do not only originate from the formulation of cosmetics, an unqualified packaging material will also cause unavoidable harm to the safety of cosmetics.
I worked in FDA at the FDA-FoodContactSubstance (direct contact with the food packaging materials group), and I have seen cases where various food packagings endanger food safety. I feel deeply that packaging materials have a huge impact on food safety. During the years of Estee Lauder's work, all kinds of cosmetic packaging materials that I came in contact with made me realize the necessity of packaging in cosmetics – it not only attracts customers to buy their pockets, but also isolates them from the outside world. Anti-corrosion, anti-oxidation, inhibit odor diffusion and other functions. With the deepening of understanding, the heart can not help but produce a small question: the same is the direct contact with the product packaging, whether there is a corresponding regulatory standards to regulate the safety of cosmetic packaging materials? As a variety of food contact packaging materials, regulations and standards. With this doubt, I have read a little bit of information to get some small tips to share with the governors.
First of all, from the current domestic routine testing method. Taking into account the isolation effect, most of the detection methods currently used in the country are developed from both visual and physical properties. For example: inspection of print quality (including abrasion resistance, adhesion fastness, color difference, ...); barrier property of packaging materials (whether it can prevent the loss of gas or liquid); tightness; impact resistance, etc. The above tests are only for the physical properties of the packaging material itself, and cannot completely guarantee the safety after contact with the contents, such as the compatibility between the two and the solvent residue of the packaging material. But now there is no clear standard in the country to regulate the safety standards for cosmetic packaging materials, let alone the specific standards for the content of the materials contained in cosmetic packaging materials. It is only mentioned in the "hygiene specifications for cosmetics": "The direct contact of cosmetics with containers The materials must be non-toxic and must not contain or release toxic substances that may cause harm to users.†Not only at home, but also in the United States FDA and EU directives, there are very few regulations and inspection standards concerning cosmetic packaging materials. The standard of food packaging, and most of the current testing of cosmetics packaging materials rely on the company's own internal supervision, testing methods and standards are naturally different.
Why does the safety of cosmetic packaging materials have a huge impact on the safety of cosmetics? Because once the package itself contains excessive amounts of toxic and harmful substances, it may be slowly released into cosmetics that are in direct contact with it, causing the quality of the cosmetics to change in a bad direction, thereby causing great harm to the human body. This hazard is similar to the impact of food on the human body - it will be absorbed by the body and cause serious consequences. Therefore, the development of detection of harmful substances in cosmetic packaging materials will be unavoidable, and in the research on the migration of substances in packaging, the national standards for food packaging materials are a good reference.
So where did the toxic and harmful substances that affect the safety of cosmetics come from?
The first is the additive in the package.
The most widely used and most frequently used today is plastic. Compared to other ceramics, glass and other materials, its advantages are unquestionable - light weight, high strength, good tolerance, and low cost. However, its defects can not be ignored - additives of various functions and their own degradation.
Additives come in a variety of categories, the most common being
1. Filler (change the hardness, wear resistance and dimensional stability of plastics, commonly used are plaster, metal powder, paper wood, etc.)
2. Plasticizer (strengthens the flexibility, elasticity, and fluidity of plastics. Phthalic acid, epoxy compounds, etc. are commonly used)
3. Stabilizer (to prevent aging, degradation, commonly used aromatic amines, etc.)
4. Colorant
Many of them are toxic and harmful substances, such as phthalic acid and amine compounds. The addition of these additives, plus the monomers degraded by the plastic itself, will migrate into the cosmetics after being fully contacted with the cosmetics, and thus pose a hidden danger to human health. In the regulation on food packaging, "Hygienic Standards for the Use of Additives for Food Containers and Packaging Materials" (GB9685-2008), 959 additives that are allowed to be used are listed and their usage, maximum residue, and specific migration amount are determined. There are clear rules. If we can refer to similar standards and establish a limited-use list of substances used in cosmetic packaging materials, we can greatly reduce the chemical pollution of cosmetics from the source and reduce the harm to human health to a greater extent.
The second is the content of heavy metals in the packaging.
When the human body excessively ingests heavy metal elements, it will cause great damage to health. For example, excessive lead can interfere with the synthesis of heme, affect mental development and the reproductive system; long-term exposure to excess chromium may cause contact dermatitis and eczema; mercury may affect the central nervous system. In China's current food packaging material standards, GB19778-2005 limits the amount of lead, cadmium, arsenic, and antimony in food glass (for example, containers with less than 600 mL, the lead, cadmium, arsenic, and antimony have a dissolution of 1.5 (mg/L, 0.5 mg/L, 0.2 mg/L, 1.2 mg/L), while GB12651-2003 limits the amount of lead and cadmium eluted in ceramics (the amount of lead and cadmium eluted in common cups is 0.5 mg/L). L, 0.25 mg/L). However, in addition to ceramics and glass products, there are also certain heavy metals in metal packaging, coatings, and even paper products—such as tinplate cans, papers with added paints or adhesives, and so on. If the packaging material comes into contact with cosmetics, especially weakly acidic products, it will slowly enter the cosmetics and be absorbed by the skin; moreover, when the packaging material is discarded, the heavy metals contained therein will slowly penetrate the soil or In the water, it causes extremely deadly damage to our environment. If we can establish standards for the content of heavy metals in cosmetic packaging materials, it is a great improvement for the safety of cosmetics, and it is also a contribution to our society and our environment.
Therefore, the research and detection of the potential risks of chemical substances contained in cosmetic packaging materials not only add a corresponding knowledge base for the cosmetics quality inspection system, but also add a powerful barrier to people's health and safety and environmental protection. . Estee Lauder's Shanghai Packaging Laboratory is not only committed to the testing of cosmetic packaging (including physical function testing and compatibility testing) in these years, but also constantly pays attention to changes and renewal of related standards at home and abroad, and strives to contribute to the development of the Chinese packaging industry.