Special aspects of cosmetic spray safety evaluations: principles on inhalation risk assessment

The consumer exposure to the vast majority of cosmetic products is limited to dermal contact. Even spray applications tend to be topically exposed to skin or hair. Besides this skin contact, spray products require additional considerations in regard to potential inhalation for building a robust and reliable safety assessment. Over the years, cosmetic industry developed prediction models for the best estimate of inhalation exposure combining data from computer simulation programs available in the market, individual real measured data and last but not least the experience from the market. Such attempt is driven by the toxicological profile of individual used ingredients. The focus of this review is on the determination of inhalation exposure, and the derivation of safe exposure levels for cosmetic spray products. Many of the methods employed to ensure product safety of cosmetic sprays in accordance with the general requirements of the EC Cosmetics Directive are based on industry experience which are not necessarily consistent across companies. This paper presents an approach to compile common principles for risk assessment and thus contribute to standardisation of safety assessment methodologies utilized for spray product evaluation without interfering with the flexibility of the individual safety assessor. It is based on the experience within the author's companies and may be useful as a support document as well for SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) companies safety assessors. In this respect it can be seen as one fundamental step in a tiered approach of cosmetic spray safety evaluation.