News story

Call for Data: Nanomaterials in Cosmetics

OPSS would like to invite any interested parties, to submit any scientific information relevant to the safety assessment of nanomaterials used in cosmetics.

From:
Office for Product Safety and Standards
Published
14 August 2023
Last updated
13 December 2023 — See all updates

Background

Article 16 of the UK Cosmetics Regulation requires that cosmetic products containing nanomaterials must be notified to the Secretary of State at least six months prior to being placed on the market. These notifications may be completed via the Submit Cosmetic Product Notification (SCPN) portal. In the case of nanomaterials not listed in Annex IV, V and VI, notifications must include additional data on the safety of the nanomaterial for use in cosmetic products, as detailed in Article 16.

Request

The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) would like to invite any interested parties, including academia, manufacturers of cosmetic products / raw materials and consumer associations to submit any scientific information relevant to the safety assessment of the below listed nanomaterials (or surface functionalised variants, alloys, or other related variants) used in cosmetics.

  1. Platinum (nano)
  2. Copper (nano)
  3. Silver (nano), colloidal silver (nano)
  4. Gold (nano), colloidal gold (nano), gold thioethylamino hyaluronic acid (nano)
  5. Silica (nano), hydrated silica (nano), silica silylate (nano), silica dimethyl silylate (nano)
  6. Lithium magnesium sodium silicate (nano)
  7. Hydroxyapatite (nano)

Any scientific data submitted for the safety assessment must include all relevant elements as prescribed in the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety Guidance on the Safety Assessment of Nanomaterials in Cosmetics.

Note:

The Scientific Advisory Group on Chemical Safety (SAG-CS) will use 70 kg as their default bodyweight assumption for adults in new safety assessments. This aligns with other UK groups, such as the UK Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment, who carry out chemical risk assessments across a range of sectors and have agreed that a default adult bodyweight of 70 kg is representative for the UK adult population. For more information, see Scientific Advisory Group on Chemical Safety in Consumer Products

Please submit original study reports and literature in full for all data relied upon in the safety assessment. This is particularly important for the pivotal studies, those which support the critical No Observed Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL) and point of departure and the dermal absorption value. OPSS takes the examination of data very seriously and will ensure independent scientific review of all information sent to us. Cosmetic products available to consumers must be safe for human health. After the review is completed OPSS will take the necessary action to ensure the safety of consumers including but not limited to prohibiting or restricting specific ingredients if a risk to human health is identified.

How to Submit Data

Please submit relevant data by email to opss.safetyassessment@businessandtrade.gov.uk.

Note:

The data submitted may be subjected to the Freedom of Information Act 2000.  Any confidential and commercially sensitive data should ONLY be submitted if it is relevant to the safety assessment. Any confidential and commercially sensitive data must be very clearly marked in a submission. Any data that is not marked as confidential and /or commercially sensitive may be liable for release under an appropriate request.

Deadline for Submission

  1. Silica (nano), hydrated silica (nano), silica silylate (nano), silica dimethyl silylate (nano): 27 June 2025
  2. Please note: The deadline for lithium magnesium sodium silicate (LMMS) will be extended to 27 June 2025 and OPSS will review this date again if required in June 2025
  3. For all other substances: 22 December 2023

For further information, please email to opss.safetyassessment@businessandtrade.gov.uk.

Data Protection

The Office for Product Safety and Standards is committed to processing information in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).  The personal data collected on this form will be held securely and will only be used for administrative purposes. If you would like to understand what personal information the Office collects about you, how the Office uses this personal information, and what rights you have regarding your personal information, then please refer to our Privacy Notice

Updates to this page

Published 14 August 2023
Last updated 13 December 2023 + show all updates

  1. Deadline for submissions for lithium magnesium sodium silicate (LMMS) extended to 27 June 2025.

  2. First published.