At the 3rd CosmeticDays organized in Marseille, France, on December 1-2, 2016, by Cosmed, Prof Alain-Claude Roudot, of the Laboratory of Chemical Risk Assessment for the Consumer (LERCCo), presented the results of the study he conducted with Dr Anne-Sophie Ficheux on French population exposure to sun products. And his conclusions can definitely challenge both entrenched views and safety assessment habits.
When he introduced the speaker to the audience, Karl Lintner, facilitator on that day, questioned him: “You are going to talk about exposure to sun products, but is it not rather exposure to UV rays that can be harmful?”
Here is what Prof Alain-Claude Roudot answered: “We are talking about toxicological risk assessment here. We actually deal with chemicals and exposure hazard to assess the quantity of hazardous product one individual may apply on his/her skin, and to which he/she is in fact exposed.”
Once he had made his point, he introduced his topic with a short reminder of the risk assessment context in cosmetics, which is directly related to European regulations. Cosmetics Regulation 1223/2009 is actually based on the principle that cosmetic products should not have any harmful effect on consumers’ health. And to demonstrate this, a reference toxicological value not to be exceeded must be determined, and consumers’ real exposure to the potentially risky molecule should be known. The objective is to get an expression unit in mg/kg bw/day to have a basis for comparison for all individuals.
Clearly, it is essential to have exposure data available that reflect the reality of use of …
