RAPEX / Safety Gate
Definition
The EU rapid alert system for dangerous non-food consumer products, including cosmetics. Analogous to RASFF for food. Member states notify dangerous products; notifications are publicly searchable at the Safety Gate portal. Cosmetics with banned colourants, excess heavy metals, or prohibited preservatives are notified here.
Related terms
- Ammoniated Mercury
- A mercury-ammonia complex (mercuric chloride-ammonia, HgNH2Cl) historically used as a skin-lightening active ingredient. Inhibits melanogenesis by binding to tyrosinase's active-site cysteine. Causes...
- EU Regulation 1223/2009
- The EU Cosmetics Regulation: the primary legal framework governing cosmetics marketed in the EU. Annex II (prohibited substances) lists lead (Entry 209),...
- Formaldehyde-Releasing Preservative (FRP)
- A preservative that slowly releases formaldehyde as its antimicrobial active ingredient. The five principal FRPs in cosmetics are quaternium-15, DMDM hydantoin, imidazolidinyl...
- Galena (PbS)
- Lead(II) sulfide: the principal ore of lead, a grey-black metallic mineral used as the traditional pigment in kohl eye cosmetics for thousands...
- Kohl (Kajal, Surma, Al-Kohl)
- A dark powder applied to the eyes as a cosmetic in South Asian and Middle Eastern cultural traditions. Traditional mineral kohl is...
- MoCRA 2022
- Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act 2022 (US), signed into law December 2022. Requires cosmetic-facility registration with FDA, product listing, safety substantiation, adverse-event...
- Nash Reagent Method
- The EU reference colorimetric method for free formaldehyde in cosmetics: formaldehyde reacts with ammonium acetate and acetylacetone to produce the yellow 3,5-diacetyl-1,4-dihydrolutidine...
- Rhodamine B
- A xanthene dye (C28H31ClN2O3, MW 479.0) with brilliant pink fluorescence, listed on the EU REACH SVHC candidate list as a suspected carcinogen...
- Tyrosinase Inhibition
- The mechanism by which mercury compounds and some other skin-lightening agents achieve depigmentation: mercury binds to the sulphydryl (cysteine) group at the...
Explained in
- Cosmetics Chemistry: Heavy Metals, Banned Colourants and Formaldehyde ReleaseThe EU rapid alert system for dangerous non-food consumer products, including cosmetics. Analogous to RASFF for food. Member states notify dangerous products;...