In the absence of a reference system specifically adapted to cosmetics, 15 beauty groups and suppliers in France including LVMH have formed CosmetoPack, a working group to conduct research into the interaction between packaging and formula.
In collaboration with testing laboratory LNE, the newly founded research program aims to focus on risk assessment of interactions between primary packaging and cosmetics formulas in a bid to draw up an assessment process recognized by international authorities, with specific protocols to demonstrate the safety of the interactions. The project aims to provide the cosmetics industry with simple and economical protocols involving controversial ingredients, additives (dyes, functional, antibacterial and anti-UV ingredients), plastic packaging materials of conventional and non-conventional origin and the interactions between them.
The protocols are designed to establish tolerance thresholds to ensure a product’s safety, manage toxicological risks for packaging/formula interactions, develop assessment methods to benefit from new knowledge about products and anticipate potential new regulations.
“Through this initiative, we expect greater collaboration between the pack providers and their customers. This subject concerns everyone, not just the brands,” commented Laurent Nogueira, product application innovation manager at LVMH Recherche Parfums & Cosmétiques. ”This issue will become unavoidable from a regulatory point of view. Today, it is simply mentioned in European regulation, but tomorrow, authorities will require much more than a simple declaration of ‘no hazardous molecules’ the primary packaging,” he added.
“CosmetoPack’s database already includes conventional materials (of petrochemical origin), and will be gradually enriched with new materials, such as PCR and bio-sourced plastics,” a CosmetoPack spokesperson explains to Luxe Packaging Insight.
CosmetoPack has an operating budget of €300,000 and will see the partners involved share data. The project is organized around three steps: the establishment of exposure data for cosmetics and packaging materials, the analysis and the modeling of packaging’s potential contamination of cosmetics.
The stakeholders involved in the project are: LVMH Recherche-Parfums&Cosmétiques, Albéa, Berry-Bramlage, Eastman, Equitox, Laboratoires Expanscience, MS BEAUTiLAB, PRP Création, Texen, Groupe Treffert, Itech, Université Lyon 1, Allizé Plasturgie, Cosmet’in Lyon and Plastipolis.
