Washington—Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today announced that 13 national health organizations have endorsed the Personal Care Products Safety Act, introduced in April by Senators Feinstein and Susan Collins (R-Maine).

The organizations include the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, Blue Ribbon Advocacy Alliance, Caregiver Action Network, Gerontological Society of America, HealthyWomen, National Alliance for Hispanic Health, National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs, National Coalition for LGBT Health, National Minority Quality Forum, National Partnership for Women & Families, Society for Women’s Health Research, Veterans Health Council and Women Against Prostate Cancer.

“I’m grateful to these groups for supporting this important bill,” said Senator Feinstein. “They represent diverse constituencies including women, minorities, LGBT Americans and seniors. This shows that personal care products safety is an issue that affects us all and there is broad support for legislation to ensure the safety of these products.”

Additional health groups in support of the bill are the Environmental Working Group, Endocrine Society, National Psoriasis Foundation and the National Women's Health Network. 

The Personal Care Products Safety Act would:

• Require the FDA to evaluate a minimum of five ingredients per year to determine their safety and appropriate use.
• Provide the FDA the authority to order recalls of certain personal care products that threaten consumer safety.
• Provide the FDA the authority to require labeling of products that include ingredients not appropriate for children and those that should be professionally administered. Complete label information, including ingredients and product warnings, would also be required to be posted online since approximately 40 percent of personal care products are purchased over the Internet.
• Require companies to provide contact information on their products for consumers and report serious adverse events to the FDA within 15 days, including death, hospitalization and disfigurement. Health effects that could have resulted in hospitalization without early intervention would also be required to be reported.
• Require manufacturers to register annually with the FDA and provide the agency with information on the ingredients used in their personal care products.
• Direct the FDA to issue regulations on Good Manufacturing Practices for personal care products.

Text of the letter follows:

June 25, 2015

The Honorable Dianne Feinstein
United States Senate
331 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Susan Collins
United States Senate
413 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Re: Personal Care Products Safety Act (S.1014)

Dear Senators Feinstein and Collins:

We are writing to support your legislation – Personal Care Products Safety Act (S.1014) – to modernize the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act, which gives the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) additional authority and oversight over cosmetics, personal care products and their ingredients. The Personal Care Products Safety Act will help provide the continued safety of these products expected by American consumers.

Just as we expect the personal care products industry to use the best available science and safety data to formulate products for consumers, we also need the regulatory structure for these products to be in step with scientific advances. Thus, we support the creation of a national standard that will ensure product safety, provide the FDA with essential regulatory authority over the industry, and enable companies to continue moving forward with new products and product improvements to meet consumer needs. An updated, transparent, common-sense approach to federal oversight will provide Americans with continued assurances that their safety is paramount.

It is important to understand the role these products play in the everyday lives of virtually every citizen. On average, Americans use about 10 of these products each day – including sunscreen, shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, makeup and many other items. Congress has a strong interest in strengthening the FDA’s ability to regulate manufacturing and distribution of personal care products to maintain public confidence in products they use with such frequency.

However, today, new state laws attempting to regulate cosmetics have created confusion over the safety of certain ingredients. State regulators generally do not have the resources or expertise necessary to determine the safety of one ingredient over another, and varying state requirements are creating uncertainty for consumers and businesses. In addition, as supply chains become more globalized, consumers need to know that products manufactured overseas are meeting a uniform safety standard in the United States.

As Congress modernizes and strengthens FDA regulation of personal care products and cosmetics, there are several reforms that we believe should be considered to elevate consumer confidence:

• Mandatory reporting requirements should include the registration of all manufacturing facilities, reporting of all product ingredients and the filing of adverse event reports that consumers may have from the use of personal care products;

• The FDA should issue regulations that create Cosmetics Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) to help set acceptable parameters for product manufacturing;

• The FDA should be authorized to establish safe tolerance levels for both planned ingredients as well as the trace constituents; and

• The FDA should be given authority to order mandatory recalls of products they believe are unsafe, and the agency should be given authority to inspect product safety records required to be kept by the manufacturer when the FDA has a reasonable belief a product may be unsafe.

We thank you for your leadership on behalf of American consumers and we congratulate you on your legislation. We also applaud your process of including input from multiple stakeholders to modernize the current system and look forward to working with you and your colleagues in both chambers to pass this bipartisan legislation.

Sincerely,

American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association

Blue Ribbon Advocacy Alliance

Caregiver Action Network

Gerontological Society of America

HealthyWomen

National Alliance for Hispanic Health

National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs

National Coalition for LGBT Health

National Minority Quality Forum

National Partnership for Women & Families

Society for Women's Health Research

Veterans Health Council

Women Against Prostate Cancer

cc: The Honorable Lamar Alexander

The Honorable Patty Murray