Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of acrylate exposure from cosmetic nail treatments on (a) long-term health of people exposed and (b) NHS services.

Legislation is clear that cosmetics must be safe. To demonstrate that a product is compliant with the requirements in the Cosmetic Regulation, a safety assessment must be completed by a qualified safety assessor. This includes examining the systemic exposure to individual ingredients used. The safety assessor must be satisfied that the product is safe before it can be sold.

As the regulator for product safety, OPSS is responsible for ensuring that consumer products are safe. We will take effective action where non-compliant products are identified. However, as a department we do not hold information regarding impacts to NHS services.