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August 8, 2017

ClientEarth Files Complaint with EU Ombudsman over EC Catalog of Nanomaterials Used in Cosmetic Products

Lynn L. Bergeson Carla N. Hutton

ClientEarth announced on July 31, 2017, that it filed a complaint with the European Union (EU) Ombudsman about the European Commission’s (EC) “unlawful handling of a long-delayed list of nano-chemicals in cosmetics.”  As reported in our June 19, 2017, blog item, the EC published June 15, 2017, a catalog of nanomaterials used in cosmetic products on the EU market.  ClientEarth states that “[d]espite the lengthy delay, the list still does not let people identify which cosmetics contain potentially harmful nanomaterials, or assess the threat they may pose to human health.”  ClientEarth calls on the EU Ombudsman — “an independent and impartial EU body” — to “open an investigation into these acts of maladministration and hold the Commission to account for frustrating consumers’ and civil society’s rights to know about the risks of products people use every day.”