A chemical present in gel nail polish has been banned in the European Union, but is still allowed in the U.S.
The chemical is trimethylbenzoyl diphenylphosphine oxide, or TPO, and as of Sept. 1, it is not allowed to be sold or used by nail technicians across Europe. If salons have polish in their stock that has TPO, it is supposed to be thrown away, the “Today” show reported.
A ban is expected in the United Kingdom starting next year, according to ABC News.
TPO is the component that requires UV light in gel manicures to harden. Cosmetic chemist Kelly Dobos told “Today” that she believes that gel nail polish is the only cosmetic product that uses it, “but it is used in other industries to cure inks and coatings.”
Initially, the EU banned it in professional settings, but now it is banned in all uses, ABC News reported.
The European ban is based on tests where rats were fed high doses of TPO and resulting in what “Today” said was “a risk of negative reproductive outcomes for males.”
But the amount of TPO given to rats was far above the small amount that is used in nail polish.
“The exposure conditions in these animal studies bear no resemblance to realistic exposure scenarios in cosmetic use,” nail industry expert Doug Schoon told “Today” in a statement.
Alternatives to TPO include TPO-L and BAPO and nail polish manufacturers are trying to change their products to include those photoinitiators, Cosmopolitan said.
The GelBottle brand said in a statement that it is already TPO-free in the EU and is changing the products sent to the U.K. and the U.S. to be TPO-free by next year. The company said that its products that contain TPO “remain safe to use.”
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