Overview
The Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act (TFCA) is a Washington State statute enacted in 2023 (Chapter 365, Laws of 2023, codified in RCW 70A.560), with effective date 1 January 2025. It establishes binding state-level caps on heavy metals and other priority chemicals in cosmetic products sold in Washington State.
Key numbers
- Lead (Pb) in toothpaste: 1000 µg/kg (1000 ppb, 1 mg/kg, 1 ppm) statutory cap on finished product as sold.
- Lead in other cosmetic products: RCW 70A.560.020 prohibits any cosmetic product containing lead at 1 ppm (1000 µg/kg) or above, including lead present as an impurity (WA Ecology WAC 173-339 rulemaking implements the contaminant reading). This is a general finished-cosmetic cap, not toothpaste-specific, and it reaches lipsticks, eye products, makeup, hair-care and other personal-care items. Effective 2025-01-01. It does not reach OTC drug products (sunscreens, antiperspirants, diaper skin-protectants, depilatories) or non-cosmetic articles (tattoo inks), which fall outside the RCW 69.04.011 cosmetic definition.
- Other heavy metals (Cd, Hg, As): cadmium and arsenic are NOT restricted under the TFCA — they fall under Washington’s Children’s Safe Products Act (RCW 70A.430). Mercury under the TFCA (RCW 70A.560.020(1)(e)) is intentionally-added-only with no numeric ppm cap. Verified 2026-08-17 against RCW 70A.560 and WA Ecology guidance.
Methods
The statute does not specify a dedicated analytical method. The Washington State Department of Ecology and rulemaking under TFCA defer to standard cosmetic-industry analytical practice for total heavy metals in finished products: nitric acid + hydrogen peroxide microwave digestion followed by ICP-MS quantification. LOD/LOQ at least an order of magnitude below the cap (~10-100 ppb) is expected for defensible exceedance determinations.
Implications
Certification: The TFCA is the operative US binding cap for Pb in toothpaste; HMT&C Cat 2 toothpaste row threshold-setting references this regulation as the literature/regulatory floor for the US market. EU’s EC Regulation No 1223/2009 cosmetic Pb cap of 0.5 ppm (500 ppb) is stricter; Canadian and WHO cosmetic Pb guidance at 10 ppm (10,000 ppb) is more permissive.
Courses: A useful worked example of state-level cosmetic regulation filling the federal gap (FDA does not set a binding finished-product Pb cap for toothpaste).
App: Country-of-origin or state-of-sale “US-WA” triggers the 1000 ppb Pb finished-product cap for toothpaste and other cosmetic categories covered by the TFCA.
Wiki pages updated on ingest
- Washington State Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act — Toothpaste Pb 1000 ppb statutory limit
- Toothpaste (Cat 2)
- Lead
Update history
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