Cosmetics have become such an essential part of our daily lives; that it is just not possible to step out of the house without applying a plain moisturizer or a sunscreen at the least.
Beauty products that we use day in and day out to look more beautiful and help keep ourselves fresh and clean may not be all that good. Our face creams, lipsticks, shampoos, etc may contain the risk of microbial contamination.
ISO/TC 217, the technical committee in charge of cosmetic products at the International Organization for Standardization has recently come up with a solution in the form of an International standard that will help the cosmetic industry identify which levels and types of contamination represent a health hazard and which are safe.
"There are many ways in which a cosmetic product can be contaminated by microorganisms. These then multiply to produce high bacterial counts that can cause adverse effects on product quality and consumer health, ranging from infections to severe allergic reactions," ISO said.
ISO 29621:2010, Cosmetics – Microbiology – Guidelines for the risk assessment and identification of microbiologically low-risk products, will help determine which cosmetic products present a low risk to users.
This new standard, will ideally evaluate a number of characteristics of a cosmetic product like its composition, production conditions, packaging and a combination of these factors. Cosmetics ranked as "low-risk products" will not be required to undergo further testing.
ISO 29621, one of a series of standards developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 217, can be used by both public and private laboratories to ensure the creation of safe cosmetic products for consumers.
Beauty products that we use day in and day out to look more beautiful and help keep ourselves fresh and clean may not be all that good. Our face creams, lipsticks, shampoos, etc may contain the risk of microbial contamination.
ISO/TC 217, the technical committee in charge of cosmetic products at the International Organization for Standardization has recently come up with a solution in the form of an International standard that will help the cosmetic industry identify which levels and types of contamination represent a health hazard and which are safe.
"There are many ways in which a cosmetic product can be contaminated by microorganisms. These then multiply to produce high bacterial counts that can cause adverse effects on product quality and consumer health, ranging from infections to severe allergic reactions," ISO said.
ISO 29621:2010, Cosmetics – Microbiology – Guidelines for the risk assessment and identification of microbiologically low-risk products, will help determine which cosmetic products present a low risk to users.
This new standard, will ideally evaluate a number of characteristics of a cosmetic product like its composition, production conditions, packaging and a combination of these factors. Cosmetics ranked as "low-risk products" will not be required to undergo further testing.
ISO 29621, one of a series of standards developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 217, can be used by both public and private laboratories to ensure the creation of safe cosmetic products for consumers.
