Germany Reduces Heavy Metal Limits in Cosmetics

Germany’s Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) has reduced the limits for "technically avoidable" heavy metals in cosmetic products and published new orientation values for manufacturers.

Monitoring of the products has shown that current values are outdated, the BVL says.

Heavy metals are banned in cosmetics under EU law, but traces are allowed if the amount is small enough to be technically unavoidable and does not present a danger to human health. There are no specific limits, however.

Germany publishes orientation values for "technically avoidable" metal content to be used in cosmetics and has a monitoring scheme in place to review the levels.

The BVL has published the following new limits (mg/kg) for cosmetics in general and toothpaste, respectively:

lead: 2.0 (or 5.0 for certain make-up products) and 0.5;

cadmium: 0.1;

mercury: 0.1;

arsenic: 0.5 (or 2.5 for theatre make-up); and

antimony: 0.5.

The orientation value for soluble nickel is unchanged at 10mg/kg.

Elsewhere, the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) is deliberating amendments to its cosmetics Regulation, which sets limits for heavy metals in products.