California's Department of Toxic Substances Control aims to announce up to three product-chemical combinations in 2015 for regulation under the Safer Consumer Products Act, which could include a personal-care selection, with much of the department's initial focus seemingly on salon worker safety.

DTSC released its final work plan for the 2015-2017 period April 16, identifying product categories from which the agency will select priority products containing ingredients of concern for mandatory alternative analyses, which could require manufacturers to reformulate offerings down the road.

The program is "the most prominent pillar" of California's Green Chemistry Initiative launched in 2007, intended to "accelerate the quest for safer products," according to the final work plan.

The finalized version does not differ substantially from DTSC's draft plan issued in September 2014 ([A#02141215002]). Beauty, Personal Care and Hygiene – encompassing skin care, hair care, makeup, cleansers, deodorants, sunscreen, lip and nail care – remains one of seven product categories targeted for further scrutiny.

"We are disappointed that this final plan is little changed from the September draft. Despite two public workshops and more than 300 public comments with suggestions for improvement, six months later we are still in the dark on the scientific criteria used," the American Chemistry Council asserts.

Factors influencing the personal-care category's listing included the fact that they are applied to the body, directly exposing users to the chemicals they contain, some cosmetic ingredients "are known to be hazardous to people" and ingredients are not always disclosed on product labels, according to DTSC.

The department now will undertake further research and stakeholder engagement to zero in on product-chemical combinations of concern, it says.

Regulated chemicals must be drawn from DTSC's Candidate Chemicals List, which is searchable on the agency's website.

That list may grow over the 2015-2017 period if substances are added to certain authoritative lists identified in the Safer Consumer Products regulation, which include sources ranging from California's Prop 65 chemical listing to inventories of potentially hazardous substances established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the European Commission.

Alternatively, DTSC may adopt regulations to update the Candidate Chemicals list in response to a petition or of its own volition.

In the meantime, formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate (among other phthalates) and toluene are among potential targets in the Beauty, Personal Care and Hygiene category, the work plan indicates. As all three can be present in nail-care products, any one could be selected given DTSC's stated concerns about salon workers.

"Consumers who apply beauty, personal-care and hygiene products directly to their bodies are not the only people who may be exposed to the ingredients. Hair and nail salon workers, who are often women of child-bearing age, spend many hours per week working with these products," DTSC says in its final work plan.

The agency notes that according to data from the California State Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, there were approximately 121,000 full-time licensed nail technicians and 284,000 cosmetologists working in the state in June 2011.

"The potential exposure of workers using products in this category aligned with our policy priority and strongly influenced our selection" of the personal-care category, DTSC says.

Additionally, the department cites a survey it conducted of nail products claiming to be free of formaldehyde, toluene and dibutyl phthalate, which "raised concerns about accurate ingredient disclosure."

It notes, however, that chemical examples cited in the work plan do not imply that the substances necessarily will be evaluated as the agency's work advances.

According to the work plan, DTSC will announce "as many as three" product-chemical combinations in 2015, with selections accelerating over the following two years.

Once a product-ingredient selection has been nominated, subjected to public comment and finalized, affected manufacturers will be required to perform alternative analyses "to identify safer product designs or alternative formulations that avoid regrettable substitutes," the department says.

DTSC will pursue an appropriate regulatory response, as needed, upon companies' completion of final alternatives analysis reports. Under the Safer Consumer Products regulation, such actions can include the imposition of use restrictions or sales prohibitions, among other measures.

ACC Criticizes 'Lack Of Sunshine' In Plan

According to DTSC, it will follow priority product nominations over the 2015-2017 period with invitations to stakeholders to provide input through public workshops, including at least one before a formal notice of proposed rulemaking is issued.

"Priority Products will be identified from the seven categories only after robust scientific review and information exchange with industry experts, government agencies, academic researchers and NGOs. Multiple iterations of research and stakeholder engagement may be necessary to properly identify and define products in advance of rulemaking," DTSC says.

It adds: "Engagement with all of our stakeholders has been and will continue to be critical for us to successfully implement this work plan and the SCP regulations. Engagement is integral to building confidence among manufacturers, legislators, the NGO community and ultimately consumers in these groundbreaking regulations, the decisions we make and the changes that result from our work."

The Personal Care Products Council, the International Fragrance Association North America, the American Chemistry Council and other industry advocates repeatedly have called for greater transparency in DTSC's process for compiling candidate chemicals and prioritizing products for regulation.

Following the first round of proposed priority product-ingredient selections, released in March 2014 – which nominated foam-padded sleeping products containing chlorinated tris, spray polyurethane foam containing unreacted diisocyanates and paint stripper containing methylene chloride – personal-care industry groups wrote DTSC, asking for clarity on factors that informed the proposal ([A#02140519002]).

Similar insight has been sought into DTSC's work-plan development.

In an April 16 statement, ACC suggests that little progress has been made. "We are disappointed that this final plan is little changed from the September draft. Despite two public workshops and more than 300 public comments with suggestions for improvement, six months later we are still in the dark on the scientific criteria used to select priority products from the list of 1,200 possible candidate chemicals."

The trade association goes on: “DTSC has said the work plan and candidate chemicals are intended to ‘send a signal to the marketplace’ to look for alternatives. But without a better understanding of the process by which products are selected from the thousands of potential chemical and product combinations, that is impossible."

ACC urges the department to work closely with industry and other experts as it moves forward with priority product selections and to establish sound scientific methods for use in its evaluations.

"The lack of sunshine reflected in the current document and program undermines the credibility of the Green Chemistry Initiative and can only increase the public scrutiny of this agency," ACC concludes.

California DTSC Could Target Salon Beauty Products For Alternative Analyses

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