Testing Formaldehyde in Cosmetics

Understanding the levels of formaldehyde in cosmetics is essential to demonstrating compliance for these products. Historically, manufacturers used formaldehyde (or formalin) as a preservative; however, in Europe, formaldehyde (CAS No. 50-00-0) was classified in May 2019 as a carcinogen (Category 1B) and a skin sensitiser (Category 1) under Part 3 of Annex VI to Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008. According to Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, substances classified as carcinogenic of category 1B in that Annex are prohibited from use in cosmetic products. Therefore, the use of formaldehyde as such has been banned in cosmetic products and is currently listed in entry 1577 of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009.

Annex V to Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 contains a list of substances allowed for use in cosmetic products as preservatives. Some of these preservatives gradually release formaldehyde and so enable a preservative function in the final cosmetic product. These are referred to as "formaldehyde releasers". Formaldehyde releasers are used in both leave-on and rinse-off cosmetic products including formaldehyde in shampoo formulations. To ensure consumer safety and inform consumers sensitised to formaldehyde about the presence of formaldehyde that may trigger an allergic reaction, all finished products containing substances listed in that Annex V and which release formaldehyde should be listed on the label with the specific warning ‘contains formaldehyde’ where the concentration of formaldehyde in the finished product exceeds 0.05 %.

Accurate and robust analytical testing is required to ensure the safety of your innovative beauty products to determine formaldehyde levels in skin care products or formaldehyde in makeup. Across the cosmetics product value chain, there are multiple reasons, are all focused on product safety, to deploy an accurate and sensitive method for the quantitative determination of formaldehyde or acetaldehyde. These include raw materials quality control, support for the optimisation of a formulation, or for the study of a product's stability.

Our formaldehyde testing expertise

Our scientists provide accurate testing services, employing sensitive, robust reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods to determine formaldehyde in your products. This method is suitable for both raw materials and a range of matrices found in finished products such as creams, lotions, shampoos, and soaps. Our chromatography experts are well versed in method development and method verification, and so where complex matrices may present challenges, our team can develop a suitable methodology.

Our Total Quality Assurance solutions

We offer advanced scientific solutions for cosmetic restricted or banned substances, supporting you from product innovation, raw materials qualification and helping you to ensure the safety of your products. We offer a wide breadth of sector-dedicated technical solutions underpinned by 20 years of proven expertise in cosmetics testing delivered from our centre of excellence for cosmetics testing, LaCoMed, located near Chalon-sur-Saône in France. In addition, we also provide testing for other restricted or banned substances including heavy metals, bisphenols, PFAS, fragrance allergens, phthalates, parabens, 1,4-dioxane and nanoparticles.

Why choose Intertek as your formaldehyde testing partner?

Centre of Excellence: Over 20+ years of analytical testing experience supporting beauty product innovation and production
Highly Skilled Scientists: A proven track record of first-to-market approaches to solve complex regulatory and quality challenges.
Global Regulatory Support: Expertise helps ensure compliance with key cosmetic regulations through testing for contaminants, allergens, restricted or banned substances, preservatives, metals, and more.
Accredited Laboratory: The LaCoMeD laboratory holds ISO 9001 and ISO 17025 (COFRAC n°1-2411, Scope is available on www.cofrac.fr.) accreditations, assuring competence, quality and reliability of testing results.
End-to-End Support: From raw materials and formulation analysis to finished cosmetics products and packaging testing
Support for Production & Quality Control: Robust testing solutions help identify and resolve quality issues during production
Data-Driven Decisions: Strong analytical insight helps our clients to reduce risk, optimise cosmetic formulations and ensure trusted, compliant products.

We know that your technical needs are diverse, so our breadth of services spans from pharmacopoeia methods to bespoke advanced method development. Supporting your value chain from raw materials sourcing, across production processes and through to finished products, we offer responsive analytical resources to ensure consistent raw material quality and technical consulting to resolve production issues. Our dedicated cosmetic analytical testing resources are integrated with our strengths in regulatory guidance and labelling review.