At the end of 2012, the Bloom association, which works for marine conservation, denounced the massive use by the cosmetic sector of deep shark liver oil, which threatens to extinction certain species. Two years later, she tested 72 skin creams labelled"squalane". The results are formal for 62 of them: one in five contains shark squalane!
In 2012, Bloom published a study which demonstrated that the cosmetic industry's demand for shark squalane remained high, despite a growing trend to use vegetable squalane. "We then warned the brands that we would test them within two years to see if they had eliminated animal squalane from their production lines, explains Claire Nouvian, founder of the association . "Our results show that the trends of 2012 are confirmed: whereas in Asia, more than one product out of two tested still contains shark squalane, most Western creams no longer contain it.
The association has therefore just tested 72 skin creams labelled"squalane". This statement does not specify whether this moisturizing substance commonly used in cosmetics is of animal origin (shark liver oil) or vegetable origin (olive or sugar cane).
In Asia more than in Europe
In Europe, three of the 32 brands tested use shark squalane: IOMA, Méthode Swiss beauty care and Topicrem. According to Bloom, Unilever, IOMA's largest shareholder, had committed to no longer use animal squalane (Oceana, 2008). The association also specifies that, according to a conversation with the brand's laboratories, Topicrem would have stopped using shark squalane in 2013 (the cream tested was produced in 2012).
In the …
