Can we trust it? Is everything sold under these labels really?
" Sustainability is here to stay. " Tomás Muret, the national member of Dermopharmacy of the General Council of Official Colleges of Pharmacists, is very clear about this. However, what he does not see so clearly is the concept of 'sustainability' itself. "We don't have it categorized, we don't have a clear structure to define this term."
The same opinion is Jaume Pey, general director of the Association for Self-Care of Health (AFP), who points out: "Today there is no standardized methodology that allows quantifying the percentage of sustainability of a product ." In the midst of this uncertainty, the cosmetic sector in Spain is booming. According to data from the National Association of Perfumery and Cosmetics (Stanpa), it grew 2% in 2018 for the fourth consecutive year.
But recently, the concern - or fashion - for buying and selling natural, 'bio', 'sustainable' or 'eco-friendly' products - very attractive labels for the consumer - has been added. But can we trust it? Is everything you sell as sustainable really? Muret takes a skeptical stance and explains that there are many "links that will need to be regulated to determine if the product is sustainable."
For example: obtaining the raw material, transporting it to the manufacturing plant, manufacturing processes, waste from said processes, used energy, the cosmetic container, packaging, transportation to the point of sale, container recycling ...
The rigor of information
What we summarize with a “caring for the environment”, basically covers a much broader field. And Muret warns: " Do not be fooled: the 'natural', the 'green' will not make a cosmetic better, or more effective, or healthier."
The director of Anefp confirms that sustainability does not have to have a direct influence on the effectiveness of the product or its safety. "Sometimes there is a lack of rigor in many of the messages, something common in this information society", laments Val Díaz, CEO of Stampa. Many cosmetics boast of not carrying certain components ("without corticosteroids," they announce, for example), but "the absence of an ingredient cannot be claimed when it is banned in cosmetics (such as corticosteroids)," recalled Gema Herrerías, vocal de Dermopharmacy of the College of Pharmacists of Seville, in the MasDermo2019 Conference.
As neither is permissible stress that is not tested on animals when this leads banned in Europe since 2009. "If a cosmetic It is not safe, it will not go to the market ”, declares Herrerías, who stresses that European legislation is one of the most comprehensive in security.
Preservatives, yes or no?
This is a controversial topic in cosmetics. Specifically, parabens, the most widely used cosmetic preservatives for "their low price and their bactericidal and fungicidal activity," says Tomás Muret. “The family of parabens has a very bad reputation since some are prohibited. But methylparaben, ethylparaben, butylparaben and propylparaben can be used following the restrictions set by the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety of the European Commission and are safe for human health ”.
Val Díaz wants to dismantle the myth: “I always say that they should be called 'parabens'. And Jaume Pey stresses that, in the permitted concentrations, they are essential because they “protect products against contamination by microorganisms” and prevent these products from deteriorating.
We tend to confuse cosmetics with food. "They are two different worlds regulated differently, to the point that an asset that can be used in cosmetics may be banned in food," says Muret.
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