Members of the EDC-Free Europe campaign urge the EU to take swift and ambitious actions to ban endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in cosmetics and personal care products without delay.

Cosmetics and personal care products can contain many different substances including harmful endocrine disrupting chemicals. As some consumers can use different products on a daily basis, some of which are even re-applied throughout the day, these cosmetics can represent a significant source of our daily exposure to EDCs. 

In fact, international surveys suggest that on average, women use between 12 - 16 personal care products per day [1][2]. Results of biomonitoring studies have shown evidence of EDCs frequently used in personal care products and cosmetics are found in the amniotic fluid [3], the placenta [4][5] and even breast milk [6]. The effects of these substances on human health are associated with certain types of cancer, infertility, and even affect irreversibly fetal development and puberty.

In the letter, the EDC-Free Europe coalition welcomes the commitments made in the European Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability to ban endocrine disrupting chemicals in consumer products, and urges the EU to take swift and ambitious actions to ban these harmful chemicals in cosmetics and personal care products without further delay. 

Read our letter to the European Commission

[1] The European Consumer Organisation - BEUC files a complaint against the European Commission. 

[2] Study on the consumption of cosmetic products by the French population.

[3] Research study on tracing endocrine disrupting compounds in human amniotic fluid.

[4] Study on the presence of chemicals used as UV filters and absorbers in paired maternal and fetal samples.

[5] Study to determine chemicals used in UV filters in human placenta.

[6] Research study on paraben concentrations in maternal urine and breast milk and Its association with personal care product use


For more information on recent studies exposing the presence of EDCs and suspected EDCs in personal care products, check our partners’ work: