EU Parliament Backs Cosmetic Microplastic Ban; Rite Aid Unveils Chemicals Policy; News In Brief

European Parliament reportedly voted Sept. 13 in overwhelming favor of a July recommendation from its Environment Committee calling for a ban on microplastics intentionally added to cosmetics and domestic cleaning products. The committee’s draft report builds on the European Commission’s Plastics Strategy released in January, which has the European Chemicals Agency preparing a proposal for restricting microplastic use in consumer products under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation. (Also see "ECHA Requests Stakeholder Input On Microplastic Use; Possible Restrictions To Follow" - HBW Insight, 8 March, 2018.) The big question is whether the EU will seek to limit the cosmetics sector’s use of microplastics beyond plastic microbeads in rinse-off cleansing/exfoliating products, which already are banned in the US and have been largely abandoned by European industry per voluntary phase-out commitments. (Also see "Cosmetics Europe Analyzing US Game Tape In Preparation For Microbead Legislation" - HBW Insight, 31 March, 2017.) Parliament’s resolution, which targets 2020 for the microplastic ban, now will go to the Council, Commission and EU member states for consideration.

Drugstore chain Rite Aid Corporation follows the lead of Target, Walmart and CVS in creating its own policy to restrict chemicals of concern in products on its store shelves. Rite Aid began eliminating eight ingredients – triclosan, formaldehyde, toluene, butylparaben, propylparaben, dibutyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate and nonylphenol ethoxylates – from its private brand products in 2016, an undertaking it expects to complete in 2020. Announced Sept