Formaldehyde Testing in Cosmetics

Formaldehyde (or formalin) is a potentially harmful substance (Class A according to DIMDI), which is usually used as a preservative in cosmetics. According to the current cosmetics regulations, the use of formaldehyde in cosmetics is subject to many restrictions and bans. The European Commission issued Regulation (EU) 2019/8311 in May 2019, classifying formaldehyde as a category 1B CMR substance, which means that formaldehyde is added to the prohibited substances list in cosmetics - Annex II. Although the use of formaldehyde is prohibited, as long as the concentration of formaldehyde in the finished product does not exceed 0.05%, preservatives called "formaldehyde releasers" can still be used in cosmetics.

Excellent cosmetics require absolute safety while having efficacy, so precise analysis and testing are required to ensure the safety of your innovative beauty products. Across the entire value chain of cosmetic products, product safety is always the focus of attention. Therefore, for all suppliers, it is essential to use accurate, sensitive, and efficient methods to quantitatively determine formaldehyde or acetaldehyde, and strict quality control of raw materials, support for optimization of formulas, and research on product stability are the basis for each supplier to develop products.

Figure 1. Free formaldehyde in cosmetics - Creative BioMart

Our Services

Creative BioMart recruited a large number of experts who are proficient in method development and method verification, and established a professional and high-quality analysis platform to provide customers with accurate, comprehensive, and quality-guaranteed cosmetic testing services. Currently, we have developed an analytical method for the determination of trace formaldehyde in cosmetics containing formaldehyde-releasing preservatives. This method is based on reversed-phase dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (RP-DLLME), which can extract highly polar compounds and then perform liquid chromatography-ultraviolet/visible (LC-UV/vis) determination with post-column derivatization. This method can be used for a series of substrates in raw materials and finished products, such as creams, lotions, shampoos, and soaps, etc. In addition, the method is simple to operate and has good economic efficiency, making it an efficient method for quality control of cosmetics containing formaldehyde-releasing preservatives. Our team can also design customized solutions for complex samples to meet all customer needs.

Creative BioMart is an advanced and professional cosmetic analysis company that provides comprehensive solutions for cosmetic testing and development, and provides reliable support for customers in brand building, product development, raw material certification and product safety. We are confident that we can help customers solve all the problems encountered in the product development process, because we have advanced cosmetic testing laboratories and accumulated nearly 20 years of successful experience. The technical requirements in the cosmetics design and development process are diverse and challenging, and we will offer the best service to help customers solve a series of technical problems.  

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