Nano skin products lack specific regulations
Some sunscreens contain a nano version of a substance called titanium dioxide. The nano-sized version is transparent instead of thick and white. Some cosmetics contain nano-capsules designed to penetrate deeper into your skin.
Some manufacturers now include invisibly tiny nanoparticles in sunscreens and cosmetics.
These are manufactured particles of known substances, with the nano–sized particles making sunscreens, for example, transparent instead of thick and white.
Here in the U.S., There are no specific regulations for any nanomaterials, including those in cosmetics and sunscreens.
Kristen Kulinowski: I think a lot of that information is held within the walls of the industries that are producing these products. If you talk to the people that are making products with nanotechnology in them today. They’ll say these products have been on the market for years and they’ve been tested in–house, and that they are safe and that those companies are complying with the regulatory authorities in their individual countries.
That’s Kristen Kulinowski, Director of the International Council on Nanotechnology at Rice University. She said that, to her knowledge, there’s been no hazard associated with any nano product on the market. But, she said:
Kristen Kulinowski: There’s a lot of toxicological research on nanoparticles underway right now, all over the world. and I think in the next year or two we’re going to see hundreds to thousands of papers that are going to begin to help us draw a general picture about in what circumstances nanoparticles are okay to use, and when we might want to limit our exposure to them.
Thanks today to the National Science Foundation.
So far, there is no unbiased source of information about what products contain nanoparticles. You can check this online inventory of nanotechnology–based consumer products put together by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. But this list relies on manufacturer information – that is, if manufacturers don’t say it’s nano, it’s not included.
Nanoparticles have novel chemical or biological properties because of their small size and unique structure. Learn more: Nano 101.
Our thanks to:
Kristen Kulinowski
Director
International Council on Nanotechnology
Houston, TX
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thanks for the info on sunscreen. It’s a little help at least.
Tanner, did you happen to notice this online inventory of nano products? It’s really specific and helpful.