South Korea Implements Amended Cosmetic Safety Standard

One prohibited ingredient, four restricted ingredients are newly added, and the limitations on five restricted ingredients are more stringent Two preservatives are prohibited from use in cosmetics for infants or children under 13 years old Seven permitted ingredients for hair dyes are newly added.

On Apr 18, 2020, South Korea implemented the amended Cosmetic Safety Standard ^[1]. Cosmetics manufactured or imported in accordance with the previous regulation can be distributed and sold before April 18, 2022. The main amendments are as follows:

1. One prohibited ingredient and four restricted ingredients are newly added, and the limitations on five restricted ingredients are more stringent.

One prohibited ingredient is newly added: Tagetes Erecta Flower Extract and Oils
Four restricted ingredients are newly added, and the limitions of five preservatives are tightened

Newly added	Ingredients	Current Limitation	Remarks
	Tagetes Patula Flower Extract and Oils	Rinse-off products: 0.1% Leave-on products: 0.01%	Alpha terthienyl (Terthiophene) in raw materials: less than 0.35% Prohibited in sunscreen or products marketed for exposure to natural/artificial UV light When mixed with Tagetes Minuta Flower Extract and Oils: in rinse-off products: 0.1%; in leave-on products: 0.01%
	Tagetes Minuta Flower Extract and Oils	Rinse-off products: 0.1% Leave-on products: 0.01%	Alpha terthienyl (Terthiophene) in raw materials: less than 0.35% Prohibited in sunscreen or products marketed for exposure to natural/artificial UV light When mixed with Tagetes Patula Flower Extract and Oils: in rinse-off products: 0.1%; in leave-on products: 0.01%
	Extract, oils, and derivatives of peanuts	/	The maximum concentration of peanut protein in raw material: 0.5ppm
	Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein	/	The maximum average molecular weight of peptide in raw material: 3.5 kDa

Limitation tightened	Ingredients	Previous limitation	Current limitation	Remarks
	p-Chloro-m-Cresol	0.2%	0.04%	Prohibited in products for mucous membrane
	4,4-dimethyl -1,3-Oxazolidine (Dimethyloxazolidine)	0.1% (only permitted in products with a PH value over 6)	0.05% (only permitted in products with a PH value over 6)	/
	Methylisothiazolinone	0.01% for rinse-off products (However, prohibited to be used in combination with mixture of methylchloroisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone)	0.0015% for rinse-off products (However, prohibited to be used in combination with mixture of methylchloroisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone)	Prohibited in other products
	Chlorophene (2-Benzyl-4-Chlorophenol	0.2%	0.05%	/
	Propionic acid and its salts	Propionic acid: 2%	Propionic acid: 0.9%	/

2. Two preservatives, Salicylic acid and its salts and Iodopropynylbutyl carbamate (IPBC), which were previously prohibited from use in cosmetics for infant or children under three years old, now are prohibited from using in cosmetics for infant or children under thirteen years old.

3. Seven permitted ingredients for hair dyes are newly added, and the limitations are set.

Ingredients	Limitation	Remarks
2-Amino-3-Hydroxypyridine	Oxidation hair dyes 1.0%	Prohibited in other products
4-Amino-m-cresol	Oxidation hair dyes 1.5%
5-Amino-6-Chloro-o-Cresol	Oxidation hair dyes 1.0% Non-oxidative hair dyes 0.5%
Hydroxypropyl Bis (N-Hydroxyethyl-p-Phenylenediamine) Hydrochloric Acid	Oxidation hair dyes 0.4%
1-Hydroxyethyl 4,5-Diamino Pyrazole Sulfate	Oxidation hair dyes 3.0%
hydroxybenzomorpholine	Oxidation hair dyes 1.0%
6-Hydroxyindole	Oxidation hair dyes 0.5%

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