Why may some cosmetic ingredients require safety testing?
If the safety profile of an ingredient comes under question (perhaps from new research) then it is important that its safety in cosmetics is scrutinised. Innovation, bringing improvements in human health and safety as well as to the environment (such as biodegradability), can also lead to the need for safety testing of ingredients. It is important that there is a recognised way of assessing the safety of ingredients. In many cases, animal testing has remained the only accepted method required by regulatory bodies for assuring the health and safety of workers developing and handling new chemical substances. These substances may be used for many purposes other than as cosmetic ingredients. Even so, only a tiny proportion of all the animals used in research are used to evaluate cosmetic ingredient safety. According to official European Commission data for 2005[1], animal testing for the purposes of safety evaluation of cosmetic ingredients made up just 0.04% of all animals used for scient
