New Beauty Product Chemistry Report Reveals Safety Gaps
A fresh industry report examines millions of ingredient records to identify chemical safety and transparency trends.
Updated on Oct. 30, 2026 in Beauty
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ChemFORWARD and the KBDB Collaborative have released the 2026 Beauty & Personal Care Safer Chemistry Profile, which analyzes nearly 2.9 million ingredient occurrences in personal care products. The findings highlight significant challenges in data transparency, as over a quarter of ingredients currently remain uncharacterized regarding chemical hazards.
Why it matters
This report addresses the persistent business challenge of evaluating ingredient safety when chemical information is incomplete or unavailable. By documenting these gaps, the study provides a roadmap for stakeholders to reach an industry-wide target of 80% chemical hazard characterization.
The study found that 15.4% of analyzed products may contain at least one endocrine-disrupting chemical, while caprylyl glycol appeared in 23% of the products studied. Additionally, more than 40,000 products still contain undisclosed fragrance components.
The players
ChemFORWARD
This non-profit organization focuses on creating and sharing high-quality chemical hazard data to drive the design and selection of safer alternatives.
KBDB Collaborative
This group acts as a multi-stakeholder body focused on improving transparency and safety standards within the beauty and personal care supply chain.
The details
The report used a shared-data approach through the Chemical Hazard Data Trust, with participating organizations investing $140,000 in assessment research during 2025. This collaborative effort seeks to reduce research duplication while clarifying the safety profiles of the 96.8% of ingredients that are disclosed.
Timeline
Participating organizations invested $140,000 in chemical hazard assessments throughout 2025.
The 2026 Beauty & Personal Care Safer Chemistry Profile was published on October 30, 2026.
A United Nations Global Framework on Chemicals conference is scheduled for November 16-20, 2026, in Geneva.
Culture Shift
This initiative reflects a broader movement toward radical supply chain transparency, aligning with the goals of the United Nations Global Framework on Chemicals. It signals a shift away from legacy trade-secret practices as the industry faces increasing pressure to standardize chemical safety disclosures.
Consumers can expect more information regarding ingredient safety, though the presence of endocrine disruptors in some products highlights the continued importance of checking labels. The ongoing push for transparency may lead to cleaner formulations in daily-use items like lotions and cleansers.
The takeaway
Understanding the chemical profile of personal care items is becoming easier as industry groups share hazard data to fill transparency gaps. Readers should prioritize products with clearly disclosed ingredient lists and seek out brands that participate in verified safety assessment programs.
Further reading
Learn more about the latest standards in the industry by visiting the Beauty section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Environment+Energy Leader.
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Do you trust that beauty brands disclose enough information to ensure your products are safe?
