'Read this and be safe!' Comparison of regulatory processes for communicating risks of personal care products to European and South African consumers

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dc.contributor.authorKlaschka, Ursulaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorRother, Hanna-Andreaen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-10-30T09:36:29Z
dc.date.available2015-10-30T09:36:29Z
dc.date.issued2013en_ZA
dc.description.abstractBACKGROUND:Most personal care products (PCPs) contain hazardous ingredients, but current legislation in the European Union (EU) and South Africa (SA) does not require these to be labelled as hazardous products. Instead, ingredients must only be listed on containers to inform consumers of potential hazards. We assessed whether current legal strategies provide the means for effective risk communication (RC) mechanisms for PCPs in order to protect consumers' health and the environment.RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS:RC strategies used in developed countries are not necessarily better compared to developing countries despite the existence of extensive legislation in the former. Socio-cultural factors, scientific literacy and language differences are key reasons why the current ingredient lists on PCP labels are not an effective RC strategy. The assumption is that consumers will interpret the risks of these ingredients by conducting a risk assessment for their personal context. Realistically, the following risk mitigation measures should be implemented in developed and developing countries to reduce the public's potential exposures to hazardous substances: substitute hazardous ingredients with less hazardous; provide accessible mechanisms for consumers to comprehend RC measures; delete the exception clause in the EU Regulation on Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP); apply clear mandatory labels where PCPs health risks are clearly illustrated; and increase enforcement of legislation.The high incidence of fragrance allergies caused by PCPs is one example illustrating how current legal measures in the EU and SA fail to protect consumers and the environment from hazardous exposures. Therefore, efforts must be made to improve legally required RC measures.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationKlaschka, U., & Rother, H. (2013). 'Read this and be safe!' Comparison of regulatory processes for communicating risks of personal care products to European and South African consumers. <i>Environmental Sciences Europe</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14546en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationKlaschka, Ursula, and Hanna-Andrea Rother "'Read this and be safe!' Comparison of regulatory processes for communicating risks of personal care products to European and South African consumers." <i>Environmental Sciences Europe</i> (2013) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14546en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationKlaschka, U., & Rother, H. A. (2013). ‘Read this and be safe!’Comparison of regulatory processes for communicating risks of personal care products to European and South African consumers. Environmental Sciences Europe, 25(1), 30.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Klaschka, Ursula AU - Rother, Hanna-Andrea AB - BACKGROUND:Most personal care products (PCPs) contain hazardous ingredients, but current legislation in the European Union (EU) and South Africa (SA) does not require these to be labelled as hazardous products. Instead, ingredients must only be listed on containers to inform consumers of potential hazards. We assessed whether current legal strategies provide the means for effective risk communication (RC) mechanisms for PCPs in order to protect consumers' health and the environment.RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS:RC strategies used in developed countries are not necessarily better compared to developing countries despite the existence of extensive legislation in the former. Socio-cultural factors, scientific literacy and language differences are key reasons why the current ingredient lists on PCP labels are not an effective RC strategy. The assumption is that consumers will interpret the risks of these ingredients by conducting a risk assessment for their personal context. Realistically, the following risk mitigation measures should be implemented in developed and developing countries to reduce the public's potential exposures to hazardous substances: substitute hazardous ingredients with less hazardous; provide accessible mechanisms for consumers to comprehend RC measures; delete the exception clause in the EU Regulation on Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP); apply clear mandatory labels where PCPs health risks are clearly illustrated; and increase enforcement of legislation.The high incidence of fragrance allergies caused by PCPs is one example illustrating how current legal measures in the EU and SA fail to protect consumers and the environment from hazardous exposures. Therefore, efforts must be made to improve legally required RC measures. DA - 2013 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1186/2190-4715-25-30 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - Environmental Sciences Europe LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2013 T1 - 'Read this and be safe!' Comparison of regulatory processes for communicating risks of personal care products to European and South African consumers TI - 'Read this and be safe!' Comparison of regulatory processes for communicating risks of personal care products to European and South African consumers UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14546 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/14546
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1186/2190-4715-25-30
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationKlaschka U, Rother H. 'Read this and be safe!' Comparison of regulatory processes for communicating risks of personal care products to European and South African consumers. Environmental Sciences Europe. 2013; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14546.en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherSpringeren_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Public Health and Family Medicineen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsThis is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licenseen_ZA
dc.rights.holder2013 Klaschka and Rother; licensee Springeren_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0en_ZA
dc.sourceEnvironmental Sciences Europeen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://www.enveurope.com/en_ZA
dc.subject.otherClassification and labelingen_ZA
dc.subject.otherConsumer protectionen_ZA
dc.subject.otherCosmeticsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherDeveloping and developed countriesen_ZA
dc.subject.otherHazardous substancesen_ZA
dc.subject.otherPersonal care productsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherRisk communicationen_ZA
dc.title'Read this and be safe!' Comparison of regulatory processes for communicating risks of personal care products to European and South African consumersen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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