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ECHA project finds hazardous chemicals in cosmetics

A pilot enforcement project carried out by national enforcement authorities in 13 European Economic Area (EEA) countries between November 2023 and April 2024 found that 6% of about 4,500 cosmetic products inspected contained hazardous substances. The project was undertaken under the auspices of ECHA’s Enforcement Forum.

The authorities looked mainly for the presence of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), long chain perfluorocarboxylic acids and related substances, plus two cyclic siloxanes. They found 285 of the cosmetics included hazardous chemicals, notably:

Cepsa become Moeve

Spanish energy and chemicals company Cepsa has renamed itself Moeve. This is described as part of the Positive Motion strategy, under which the company is seeking to position itself as “a leader in sustainable energy and mobility” with most of its profits coming from sustainable activities by 2030.

The company is already decarbonising its operations through an €8 billion investment strategy. Over 60% of this will be dedicated to sustainable businesses, including the production of green hydrogen, 2G biofuels, sustainable chemical products and ultra-fast electric charging.

Sudarshan to buy Heubach

India’s Sudarshan Chemical Industries (SCIL) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Heubach Group in a move that it said would “create a global pigment company, combining SCIL’s operations and expertise with Heubach’s technological capabilities”.  Terms were not disclosed.

First waste-based biosurfactants

Belgian start-up AmphiStar has launched what it claims are the first fully upcycled biobased surfactants under the trade names AmphiCare and AmphiClean. These are produced “using clean biological conversion processes and derived from local, organic biowaste and side streams from agri-food processing”.

Evonik emollients plant opened

Evonik has officially opened its new “double-digit million-euro” production plant for cosmetic emollients at Steinau, Germany. This will use an enzymatic esterification process from the company’s biotechnology platform to convert vegetable oils. “This investment helps us lower our footprint, while supporting the beauty industry in its transformation – meeting the demand for more responsible, eco-friendly solutions,” said Johann-Caspar Gammelin, president of the Nutrition & Care division.

Lubrizol opens Shanghai Beauty Research Institute

Lubrizol has opened its Beauty Research Institute in Shanghai. The company said that this will “serve as a strategic hub to further grow in vivo beauty testing capabilities, applying decision science to enable next-generation beauty ingredients, empower innovation collaboration and enhance speed to market” for its customers in the region.

Adipic acid chain closure for BASF

BASF is to end production of three chemicals at its main site in Ludwigshafen. This is part of an ongoing strategic review that is being undertaken “to ensure competitiveness under changing market conditions” and will lead to about 180 job cuts.

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