New Zealand is banning them, the EU is phasing them out, and a growing number of states in the United States are restricting the use of PFAS in cosmetics.
But experts say Australia is “way behind” when it comes to limiting exposure to so-called ‘forever chemicals’.
What are PFAS?
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are a group of more than 4,000 synthetic chemicals that can be added to household products to make them resistant to heat, stains, grease or water.
“PFAS are highly persistent in the environment and in the human body, meaning that they don’t break down and can accumulate over time,” University of Melbourne environmental science and analytical chemistry senior lecturer Brad Clarke says.
“This has earned them the nickname ‘forever chemicals’.”
Clarke says only a “small group of PFAS” have been studied for their effects on human health.
PFAS are a group of chemicals that can be added to household products to make them heat, stain, grease or water-resistant. Source: SBS News
What are the risks of PFAS?
Pradeep Dewapriya from the University of Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences says the health impacts of PFAS are not fully understood.
“At the moment there’s no definitive risk of PFAS because we don’t have enough research … but [there are] several publications explaining that PFAS have some kind of health risk,” he says.
Exposure to PFAS has been linked to some cancers, hormonal dysfunction, a weakened immune system, liver disease, kidney disease and environmental damage.
At the end of 2023, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer evaluated the carcinogenicity of two types of PFAS. As a result, it classified perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) as carcinogenic to humans and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as possibly carcinogenic to humans.
Many countries have banned, restricted or regulated the use of PFOS and PFOA chemicals, including Australia.
How common are PFAS in cosmetics?
PFAS can be used in cosmetics to help smooth the skin or make products more durable — think ‘long-wear’ lipsticks, eye shadows and foundation.
“Should we be concerned about this? Absolutely. Are people aware that they’re being exposed in this way? I’d say mostly not,” Clarke says.
In 2021, a study from the University of Notre Dame found “widespread” use of PFAS in cosmetics sold in the US and Canada.
Researchers tested more than 200 products and found around half contained high levels of fluorine — an indicator of PFAS use in the product.
Twenty-nine products that showed high levels of fluorine were further tested and found to contain between four and 13 specific PFAS.
Only one of the products listed PFAS as an ingredient on the product label.
How worried should Australians be?
Accord, the peak association representing the cosmetics industry in Australia, told SBS News: “PFAS usage within products on the Australian market would be very limited.”
“Australian consumers can be confident that the cosmetic products they purchase from mainstream brands and retailers in Australia are safe for use, and that our industry is diligent in acting responsibly on emerging issues that are supported by the weight of scientific evidence,” Accord says.
But experts say more evidence is needed to understand the prevalence of PFAS in cosmetics sold in Australia.
“There’s a gap in that market,” says Sara Ghorbani Gorji, a postdoctoral research fellow in environmental health sciences at the University of Queensland.
“Most of the studies have been done in Europe and North America, and there’s no data available in Australia.”
Gorji is in the early stages of a study that will take samples from cosmetics sold in Australia to test for the presence of PFAS.
“PFAS are not always intentionally added to the products, and so even the industries might not know about it. And, as you know, most of our products are imported,” she says.
Studies have found a link between PFAS exposure and health risks
How do I know if my make-up contains PFAS?
Professor Roy Tasker, the chief scientific adviser at not-for-profit environmental organisation Planet Ark, says that typically there’s no direct labelling of PFAS on products sold in Australia.
“If you look on the back, the list of ingredients, you won’t see any mention of PFAS. And often that’s because the amounts in the product are below the threshold that they need to declare on the label,” he says.
Both Tasker and Clarke believe there is a need for better labelling and transparency.
So what are other countries doing?
In January, New Zealand announced plans to ban the use of PFAS in cosmetic products from 2026 — the first country to take this step.
A growing number of states in the US have either passed or proposed laws banning certain chemicals in cosmetics. Restrictions in California, Colorado and Maryland will go into effect in 2025.
Cosmetics Europe, the peak association for cosmetics in the EU, recommends that by 31 December 2025, cosmetics manufacturers phase out the use of PFAS, if intentionally added to products.
A spokesperson from the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care told SBS it “is aware” of the New Zealand ban, adding “the evidence around the human health effects of long-term PFAS exposure is still emerging”.
The department acknowledged there is “global concern about the persistence and mobility of these chemicals in the environment”.
“The Australian Government takes a precautionary approach and recommends PFAS exposure is minimised where possible,” the spokesperson said.
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water lists three types of PFAS on the Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management Standard (IChEMS), which provides a national approach to managing chemical use, storage, handling and disposal of industrial chemicals.
Among those on the IChEMS list are the two types of PFAS (PFOA and PFOS) that the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified as carcinogenic and possibly carcinogenic to humans respectively. Controls for these, and a third PFAS chemical, will come into full effect from 1 July 2025.
“There are 4,700 of these things. They’ve regulated three of the most common ones,” Tasker says.
“And they were banned in other countries, in the States and in Europe years ago. So Australia has not acted anywhere near fast enough.”
