The Consumer Council informs NTB. The Council, together with Nordic partners, has participated in the Danish-led survey.
This summer, 39 popular creams, toothpastes, shampoos, body lotions and mascaras were bought ashore on six continents. Nivea Creme, the world’s best-selling skin cream, was among the products.
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The products were found in a total of 176 different versions. The table of contents of apparently identical products did not contain the same ingredients. In addition, the composition ratio of ingredients varied.
The Consumer Council says this is important to be aware of when shopping for products you usually use, abroad or online.
– A product you are used to, and which does not contain allergenic substances, may suddenly be something else in another country, says Inger Lise Blyverket, director of the Consumer Council.
If you have allergies that can be aggravated or triggered by allergenic substances, it is therefore important that you are aware that different content can occur if you, for example, shop for cosmetics online. Illustration photo: Robert Schlesinger / NTB
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Chemical cocktail
32 of the products were found in Norwegian stores, and of these, only three do not contain so-called problematic chemicals. Earlier this week, the National Institute of Public Health stated that they are now assessing the extent to which such chemicals pose a health risk, as it is clear that a number of different chemicals from cosmetics, shampoos and skin care products pass through our body daily.
It all probably depends on the quantities and the mix, the so-called cocktail effect, which little is known about at the moment.
Two of the world’s best-selling mascaras were included in the survey and were found in eight and nine different varieties in different countries. The fact that apparently identical products have different content in different countries makes it difficult for many consumers, the Consumer Council believes. Illustration photo: Thomas Brun / NTB
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A total of 63 undesirable chemical substances were found in the cosmetic products examined. Of these, 22 were substances suspected of being endocrine disruptors. The highly allergenic preservatives MI and MCI, which can cause lifelong allergies, were found in several products in several countries.
– The study confirms the importance of speeding up the work of regulating endocrine disruptors and other unwanted substances more strictly, says Blyverket
Facts about the cocktail effect
- Every day we are exposed to environmental toxins.
- They are found in cosmetics, electronics, building materials, plastics and sports equipment such as ski lubrication and all-weather jackets.
- Even if one substance does not give a great effect alone, the chemical mixture can have consequences. This is what is called the cocktail effect, and this is unknown to many combinations.
- Parabens that are used as preservatives, phthalates and bisphenols, which are found in plastics, among other things, are hormone mimics, something very many are exposed to regularly.
- Endocrine disruptors, or hormone mimics, with an estrogen-like effect, are suspected, among other things, of being able to affect fertility, sex development and learning ability.
- Processes are underway in the EU that aim to tighten legislation on the use of such so-called problematic substances in consumer products.
- The background is a recognition that it is very demanding for the consumer to orientate himself in the jungle of ingredients and chemicals.
- Products marked with the Nordic Ecolabel or the EU flower must be free of endocrine disruptors and allergens.
(Source: Consumer Council, SNL and Green Everyday )
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More explanations
The Consumer Council was surprised that the composition of well-known brands varies even between neighboring countries.
Kent Hart, head of biology and chemistry at the Asthma and Allergy Association (NAAF), believes that there may be several reasons for the variations.
– There may be differences in regulations between regions, new local legal regulations and backlogs in inventories. It may also be that new words have been used on the label, but that the content is the same, says Hart.
Prohibited from selling from today
The Danish Consumer Council Think has taken the initiative for international cooperation between organizations in 34 countries to find out if cosmetic products contain the same ingredients, regardless of where you buy them in the world. It was also a goal to find out which chemicals are used in the best-selling products selected for the study, and whether any of them are illegal.
Different expectations
Hart also points out that the regulations – and ingredient list for products – may have been recently updated for a country, but that there may have been old products in the stores – backlog of inventory sold before the new variant is put on the shelves. Thus, there may have been non-real differences in the study.
Nivea Creme, the world’s best-selling skin cream, was found with 21 different content ratios between the ingredients, in addition to the fact that 8 different ingredient variants of the cream were found.
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In a comment to NTB, the group behind the product, Beiersdorf in Germany, says that the ratio between the ingredients is slightly adapted regionally to meet the local consumers’ “sensory preferences” and adapt the cream to the specific production requirements regionally.
Beiersdorf emphasizes that they spend large resources on safety tests, but that it will never be possible to ensure that consumers react allergically to one or more ingredients. Therefore, they will always recommend their consumers to check the contents of products when they buy them. However, they say that there is only one variant of this cream in Norway.
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