FDA poised to kill proposal that would require asbestos testing for cosmetics | Asbestos
The Food and Drug Administration is set to scrap a proposed rule that would require testing for toxic asbestos in talc-based cosmetics, a problem that has been linked to cancer.
Talc is widely used, including in cosmetics, foods, medicines and personal care products. The order was signed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., leader of the Make America Healthy Again (Maha) movement.
One of the cornerstones of the movement, which helped propel Donald Trump to power, is to help eliminate toxins like asbestos from food, drugs and personal care products. The decision shocked health activists
“Nothing could make America less healthy than the presence of a carcinogen in cosmetics,” said Scott Faber, vice president of government affairs for the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, which has pushed for stricter regulations around talc. “It is difficult to understand why we would repeal a rule that simply requires companies to test for asbestos.”
The FDA did not immediately issue a press release announcing the decision and did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But in a legal opinion published in the Federal Register, the agency wrote that the decision followed comments it received about potential “unintended consequences” for companies that produce drugs, which suggested that drugmakers were opposed to testing.
“There are good reasons to withdraw the proposed rule at this time,” the notice said.
Asbestos is a group of six naturally occurring fibrous minerals used to make products resistant to heat, fire, and electricity. No safe level of exposure is considered safe and it is banned in over 50 countries. This substance is a known human carcinogen, responsible for approximately 40,000 deaths per year.
Cosmetics manufacturers have known since the 1950s that talc can be contaminated with asbestos, Faber said, but the public was not alerted until the early 1970s. Even so, the industry persuaded the FDA to allow companies to rely on testing methods that could detect some, but not all, asbestos fibers.
Asbestos contamination has been regularly found in some talc-based cosmetic products, including baby powder, which is used disproportionately by black women. Personal care giant Johnson & Johnson halted sales of talc-based baby powder in the United States in 2020, amid growing public pressure and nearly 38,000 lawsuits.
The company has paid billions of dollars in settlements so far and has proposed an additional $6.5 billion settlement for a class-action lawsuit alleging it knowingly poisoned consumers. In the United Kingdom, around 3,000 women filed suit last month in the country’s High Court, alleging that Johnson & Johnson had poisoned them.
Despite its high toxicity, obvious dangers, and widespread use, its regulation has been a tortuous process. An initial 1989 EPA ban on its use in most products was quickly overturned by a court, and efforts to pass similar bans have failed over the decades.
Joe Biden’s EPA proposed a ban that was finalized late last year, but the Trump administration decided to withdraw it before reversing course in July.
The Cosmetic Modernization Act of 2022 included provisions requiring testing of talc-based cosmetics. The Biden administration began implementing this rule, but the Trump administration is now ready to remove it.
In its notice, the FDA said it was acting on Maha’s priorities in a complex area: “We are withdrawing the proposed rule to reconsider the best ways to address the issues covered by the proposed rule and broader principles for reducing exposure to asbestos, and to ensure that any requirement for a standardized test method to detect asbestos in talc-containing cosmetic products helps protect users of talc-containing cosmetic products from harmful exposure to asbestos.
Referring to RFK Jr, Faber said: “It’s tragic that someone who has dedicated most of his career to protecting people from cancer would do this. »
