Industry contends credible chemical assessment must consider all available information
WASHINGTON AND BRUSSELS (May 18, 2018) –The Global Silicones Council (GSC) has filed a legal action in response to the European Commission’s issuance of a regulation1 that
restricts the use of D4 and D5 in wash-off cosmetic products.
The GSC contends that the legal criteria used in the REACH Regulation to assess the properties of D4 and D5 for this purpose did not allow the full range of relevant evidence to be considered. Consequently, there is no underlying scientific justification for the restriction. As a result, two innovative and socially valuable substances are being restricted from use in the marketplace, even though they pose no danger to human health or the environment.
“The Global Silicones Council has long maintained that the abundance of scientific data confirms that D4 and D5 are safe for the environment,” said Karluss Thomas, Executive Director of the GSC. “The silicones industry firmly believes that the Commission was prevented by the law from considering all of the available information when evaluating these substances.” Thomas further noted that other governmental authorities have evaluated all of the available science on D4 and D5 and have chosen not to impose any restrictions on the use of these substances in commerce.
D4 and D5 are critical building blocks used to produce a wide range of silicone polymers which provide unique product performance characteristics that engender innovation in thousands of products that benefit key segments of the global economy, including: transportation, building and construction, health care, alternative energy technologies, and electronics. In these sectors, there are few, if any, satisfactory substitutes to silicone polymers.