Hair dye ingredient Tetrabromophenol Blue is unsafe, says EC

The European Comission’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) has considered a formulation called Tetrabromophenol Bluebeing used in hair dyes to be unsafe for consumption.

According to the committee, Tetrabromophenol Blue is a compound of octa-, hepta- and hexa-bromo phenolsulfonphthaleins, and does not include any Tetrabromo-homologue, which makes the INCI name misleading, reports cosmeticsdesign-europe.com.

Maximum on-head concentration of 0.2% in non-oxidative hair dye formulations is unsafe to the health due to the low margin of safety, noted EC.

SCCS, however, could not determine the use of Tetrabromophenol Blue in oxidative hair dye formulations as no acceptable dermal absorption study under oxidative conditions was provided to justify.

The Cosmetics Europe, formerly Colipa, has submitted an initial review for Tetrabromophenol Blue in September 2003, which SCCS has turned down in 2004 saying the information was inadequate to consider the ingredient to be safe.

Colipa has updated its review later in 2005, recommending that Tetrabromophenol Blue can be used up to 0.2%, as a direct dye in oxidative and non-oxidative hair colouring products.

The new update is in line with the second step of the strategy for the evaluation of hair dyes within the framework of the Cosmetics Directive 76/768/EEC, the website reported.