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Tuesday, December 30, 2025Regulation

The US FDA publishes a report on the use of PFAS in cosmetics

La US FDA publie un rapport sur l'utilisation des PFAS en cosmétique

On 29 December 2025, the US Food and Drug Administration published a “Report on the Use of PFAS in cosmetic products and associated risks.” Its conclusion was that the available data are insufficient to determine the safety of PFAS in cosmetics…

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The report focuses on PFAS intentionally added to cosmetic products as ingredients, rather than PFAS that may be present as contaminants.
Based on mandatory cosmetic product listing data submitted to the FDA, 51 PFAS are used in 1,744 cosmetic formulations.

To assess safety, the FDA evaluated the 25 most frequently used PFAS, which represent approximately 96% of PFAS intentionally added to cosmetic products. The agency found that “toxicological data for a majority of these PFAS are incomplete or unavailable,” limiting its ability to fully assess risk.
The FDA’s ability to effectively collect toxicology data was limited by the fact that most of the data is not publicly available.

While five PFAS appeared to present low safety concerns under their intended conditions of use, the safety of most PFAS could not be definitively established, and one PFAS was identified as having a potential safety concern with significant remaining uncertainty.
“Our scientists found that toxicological data for most PFAS are incomplete or unavailable, leaving significant uncertainty about consumer safety. This lack of reliable data demands further research,” said FDA Commissioner Marty Makary.

There are currently no federal regulations that specifically prohibit PFAS intentionally added to cosmetic products. However, …

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