Similar products from the same manufacturer have different quality in different countries.
August 20 15, Germany? KO-TEST evaluated 22 infant skin cream products sold in Germany, among which 16 products were excellent (A+) without any defects.
Specifically, a Shiba Inuya baby skin cream won an excellent (A+) in Germany, and its similar product Shiba Inuya baby skin cream in China only got a warning (D-) in the excellent evaluation.
However, two baby skin creams owned by Johnson & Johnson got excellent (A) and good (B) results in German evaluation respectively, while in excellent evaluation, Johnson & Johnson baby milk nutrition cream only got medium (C).
Obviously, the manufacturers are the same, but the products in China market contain more questionable and controversial ingredients than similar products in Europe.
Eight of the 10 baby skin creams submitted for inspection this time have added polyethylene glycol or its derivatives, but none of the products tested in Germany contain such substances.
Similarly, many problematic ingredients, such as musk compounds, allergens, cucurbituril and other ingredients that may affect fertility, did not appear in the products submitted for inspection in Germany.
In addition, allergenic preservatives methyl isothiazolinone and methyl chloroisothiazolinone, as well as parabens that may affect the endocrine system, appear more frequently in the products submitted by Youke than similar products in Germany.
The performance of similar products of some manufacturers in different national markets is completely different, which shows that manufacturers can actually do better.
Formaldehyde or formaldehyde emission was detected in 3 products.
Infant cream contains a lot of water, which is easy to breed bacteria, so manufacturers will add preservatives to the products. However, manufacturers use problematic preservatives such as formaldehyde or formaldehyde releasing agent in their products. This time, formaldehyde or formaldehyde emission was detected in three products.
The European Cosmetic Safety Assessment Committee (SCCS) believes that formaldehyde is a skin sensitizer, which can induce nasopharyngeal carcinoma and leukemia. In addition, formaldehyde can also make the skin aging rapidly. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) identified it as a human carcinogen, so products containing formaldehyde or formaldehyde emissions were downgraded to level 4.
Propyl 4- hydroxybenzoate and butyl hydroxybenzoate are banned in some EU products.
P-hydroxybenzoate is a widely used preservative, which can protect cosmetics from bacteria and mold pollution.
Although these ingredients rarely cause allergies, the EU Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety believes that long-chain parabens, such as propyl 4- hydroxybenzoate and butyl 4-hydroxybenzoate, may interfere with the sensitive endocrine system of human body.
In addition, in animal experiments, long-chain parabens have been proved to affect reproductive organs. EU Regulation 1004/20 14 stipulates that it is forbidden to add long-chain parabens to the permanent products of diapers for infants under 3 years old.
Since April 16, 2065438, products containing propyl paraben and butyl paraben have been banned from entering the market in Europe, and such products on sale must be removed from the shelves before June 16 of the same year.
Judging from the product label, the product submitted for inspection this time is not the buttock cream used in the diaper field, so Youke adopted a looser scoring standard than buttock cream products, and only reduced the five products containing propyl paraben (including 1 and butyl paraben) by 2 grades.
Baby skin cream containing allergenic preservatives should be used with caution.
In this test, two baby skin cream products contain methyl isothiazolinone (MIT). This is a common preservative for pigments, paints or cosmetics, and it used to appear together with the strong allergen methyl chloroisothiazolinone (CMIT).
MIT may have the potential danger of causing skin allergies. Since July 16, 2065438, the European Union has banned residents' cosmetics containing the mixture of MIT and CMIT from entering the market.
The European Union's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety reported that there were not enough experimental results to determine the safe concentration of MIT in inducing contact skin allergy in residential products (including the baby skin cream tested this time). For washing products, experts believe that the safe concentration of MIT is 15 mg/kg. The current European cosmetic law stipulates that the content of MIT shall not be higher than 100 mg/kg.
Youke downgraded the products with MIT content exceeding 100 mg/kg by 4 grades; The content of MIT was between 15 ~ 100 mg/kg, which decreased by two grades. Children's cream was downgraded to level 2 because it contained strong allergen CMIT.
Emulsifier components or harmful substances invade the skin.
The main components of baby skin cream are water and oil, which are combined into emulsion by emulsifier. Commonly used emulsifiers include polyethylene glycol or its derivatives. These ingredients can make the skin easy to penetrate and harmful substances can easily penetrate into the skin.
Although some manufacturers deny this fact, some products use this feature to make some substances in the product components penetrate the skin and produce certain effects. CIR experts believe that cosmetics containing polyethylene glycol or its derivatives should not be used for damaged or rash skin.
Youke believes that infant skin cream products should not contain such substances, so products containing polyethylene glycol or its derivatives are downgraded to level 2.
Synthetic or petrochemical oil or carcinogen.
The oil in infant skin cream can effectively protect the baby's skin. Natural oils such as jojoba oil and almond oil can achieve this goal well, but many manufacturers use synthetic or petrochemical oil components in their products, such as paraffin, petroleum-based products or silicon compounds. Unlike natural oils, synthetic or petrochemical oils are not conducive to maintaining the balance of the skin itself.
In this test, seven products were downgraded to 1 grade because they contained more than 1% paraffin, petroleum-based products or silicon compounds.
In addition, paraffin wax and petroleum-based products may also bring mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbon component (MOAH) into cosmetics. The German Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) said that it is not excluded that there will be some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and even if these substances exist in small amounts, there will be cancer risks. Youke randomly sampled products containing more than 1% paraffin or petroleum-based products, and MOAH was detected in three products.
Musk compounds may pose health risks.
Harmful spices in infant skin care products are also worthy of attention. In this test, half of the products detected polycyclic musk compounds or similar cathinones.
According to the website of the German Federal Environmental Protection Agency, some musk compounds can be enriched in the environment, animals and human tissues. In addition, animal experiments have proved that they may damage the liver.
In recent ten years, musk compounds have caused more and more controversy in Europe. KO-TEST has also been testing such ingredients in German cosmetics. However, in recent years, it is very rare to detect such substances in German baby cosmetics, so it is not difficult for manufacturers to give up using this substance.
Youke also believes that manufacturers should not add this kind of spice with health risks in order to harmonize specific fragrance.
There is no need to add sensitizing perfume.
Adding sensitizing perfume to baby skin care products is tantamount to painting the lily. However, in this test, neocucurbituril in Luan's soft care cream for sleeping newborns and hydroxycitronellal in honey baby moisturizing cream (sheep fat cream) were still detected.
According to the EU Cosmetics Act, if a product contains 26 allergens, the manufacturer must indicate it on the label to remind consumers.
Among these 26 allergenic perfume ingredients, some are strong allergens, while others rarely cause allergic phenomena. Therefore, experts from Youke and German Dermatology Information Center (IVDK) evaluated the sensitization risk of these allergens according to the data of allergic cases, and gave corresponding scores to different allergens.
Neoallylaldehyde and hydroxycitronellal belong to medium-risk allergens, so the products containing these two spices are only downgraded to 1.
Lilial may affect the reproductive system.
Among the 10 products submitted by Youke, three products contain the problem perfume-Lilial. The scientific name of Lily of the Valley is styrene-butyl methyl propionaldehyde, which is also on the list of 26 allergenic spices that must be marked by the European Union.
The Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety of the European Union believes that it is unsafe, and it will cause sensitive risks when used as a perfume component for resident and washing cosmetics.
However, the reason for the downgrade of Youke is other hazards of this ingredient. According to the report of the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety of the European Union, cucurbitacin was found to affect the male reproductive system in animal experiments, so Youke downgraded three products containing cucurbitacin to level 2.
Another ingredient, which may come from added spices, is diethyl phthalate, which can slow down the volatilization of spices and make the fragrance last longer. But this substance in cosmetics will be absorbed by the skin, which may affect the self-protection mechanism of the skin. Fortunately, this ingredient is not detected in all products.
Some products accidentally found packaging.
In addition to the product composition itself, Youke also tested the outer packaging of the product. For products that are not packed in glass bottles, there is no need to use protective packaging boxes, and garbage will be generated. This time, eight baby skin cream products have lost 1 on the specific scores of other defects because of more packaging.
In addition, Youke detected chloride that would damage the environment in the packaging materials of two infant skin cream products submitted for inspection, so the products that detected such substances were downgraded in other defects 1.
However, only when the specific scores of other defects are good (b) or below will it have an impact on the overall evaluation. In this evaluation, Shiba Inuya baby skin cream was rated as good (b) in other defects because repeated packaging and packaging materials contained PVC, polyvinylidene chloride or chloride, which affected the overall evaluation.