March 16, 2015
The European Commission's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) has concluded that the preservative ethyl lauroyl arginate HCl (ELA) is safe for use in mouthwashes, provided its concentration is 0.15% or less.
The committee has explained that the opinion does not confirm the safety of the substance “in oral cosmetic products as a whole” and that it was not able to assess its safety in toothpaste due to lack of human data on local toxicity.
In addition, an opinion on the hair dye ingredient Basic Blue 124. The SCCS considers Basic Blue 124 a strong skin sensitizer which should not be used together with nitrosating agents. Total nitrosamine content should be less than 50 parts per billion. No final conclusion on mutagenicity can be drawn without further studies to exclude gene mutation potential.