1. Terms of Reference
Background
Annex II of the Cosmetic
Directive 76/768/EEC (List of
substances which must not form
part of the composition of
cosmetic products) prohibits
the use of cells, tissues or
products of human origin from
use in cosmetic products
marketed in the EU. These
materials are listed under
entry 416 of Annex II. Such
materials were prohibited from
use in cosmetic products due to
the potential risk of
transmission of
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease,
human spongiform encephalopathy
and viral diseases.
Current Status
This prohibition has
excluded the use of materials
derived from human hair in
cosmetic products, such as
amino acids. COLIPA The
European Cosmetic Toiletry and
Perfumery Association - have
requested that the entry is
modified in order to allow the
use of some materials derived
from human hair and have
produced a safety rationale to
support this proposal.
The proposed
modification to entry 416 :
Cells, tissues or
products of human origin.
However, amino acids obtained
by hydrolysis of human hair may
be used provided that the
following method has been used
and certified by the producer :
- Hydrolysis with HCl
(> 20% throughout the whole
process) for at least 6 hours
at 100°C.
2. Mandate
It is requested that the
SCCNFP review the received
submission and respond to the
following :
* Does the information
contained in the safety dossier
support the modification of
entry 416 of Annex II to
reflect the COLIPA proposal
given above?
* Does the SCCNFP
recommend alternative
conditions/restrictions?
3. Opinion
3.1. The product, object of
this evaluation
The product, object of
this evaluation is a mixture of
amino acids obtained from human
hair hydrolysates after
hydrolysis with concentrated
HCl (>20%), 6 hours at 100ºC
combined with subsequent
activated carbon filtration and
crystallisation and drying
according to an appropriate
industrial process.
3.2. Regulations and SSC /
SCC opinions
- According to Annex II,
number 416, of the Cosmetics
Directive (18th Commission
Directive of 10 July 1995)
Cells, tissues or products of
human origin must not form part
of the composition of cosmetic
products for the reason that
they "are liable to transmit
the CJD, human spongiform
encephalopathy, and certain
virus diseases";
- The position of the
SCC (Scientific Committee on
Cosmetology), as stated on the
4 October 1994, is to prohibit
the use of human tissues and
extracts in cosmetics. This
position led to the precedent
Commission Directive.
- According the
opinions, adopted by the SSC
(Scientific Steering Committee)
the 26-27 March 1998 and 21-22
January 1999, the inactivation
factor of 102.84 (for the
referred infectious agents) for
industrial gelatine process, is
safe.
- According to the
opinion on the safety of amino
acids from human hair
hydrolysate used in cosmetic
products for topical
application, with regard to
Transmissible Spongiform
Encephalopathy risk, adopted by
the Scientific Steering
Committee (SSC) at its meeting
of 25-26 May 2000, it may be
concluded that the risk
resulting from the use of human
hair to provide amino acids for
incorporation into human hair-
and skin-care products would
appear to be negligible.
3.3. Terms of Reference
The question raised by
COLIPA is that following recent
opinions of SSC, SCC and latest
scientific data, it seems
justified to re-evaluate these
measures with regard to amino
acids derived from human hair
hydrolysates.
3.4. Context of the
problem
In recent years the
spread of Bovine Spongiform
Encephalopathy (BSE) has
created considerable public
concern, which was exacerbated
from 1996 when a new variant
(nv) of the sporadic
Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (CJD)
was described. Current concerns
are :
1) The same infectious
agent probably causes BSE and
nvCJD.
2) nvCJD was probably
caused by the ingestion of
bovine products containing the
infectious agent of BSE in
cattle.
3) The transmission of
CJD from one individual to
another occurred by certain
human tissues or products
derived from them.
4) All nvCJD cases have
occurred in young adults (below
50), in contrast with CJD that
occurs in aged/old people (a
peak at 70).
5) Prions are highly
resistant to physical and
chemical treatments that
normally destroy bacteria and
viruses (including proteases
treatments, autoclaving at 121
ºC and 1 bar, radiation and
disinfectants).
These situations led to
precautionary measures and
studies with respect to the use
of medicinal products and food
in order to prevent CJD, nvCJD
and other human transmissible
spongiform encephalopaties
(hTSE). These diseases led
inevitably (no remission or
recovery) to the death after
incubation periods ranging from
2 to 104 weeks. A protein
called "prion" that
experimentally causes the
disease by intracerebral
inoculation causes these
diseases. Two types of prions
are known: PrPC and PrPSc.
PrPSc cause the disease and it
is a protease-resistant isoform
of the PrPC. PrPC is a normal
host cellular protein, present
at high levels in neurons,
astrocytes, peripheral tissues
and lymphocytes and it is
believed to play a role in
basic cell functions.
Sheep can be infected
experimentally by the oral
route with less than 1 g of BSE
brain. Immune protection does
not take place because the
immune system recognises prions
as "self" proteins. CJD are
reported in many countries, at
a prevalence of 1 out of 1
million humans. One of the main
concerns about prions is their
high resistance to conditions
and agents that destroy
micro-organisms or hydrolyse
proteins.
How prions arise in
animals or humans (apart from
the horizontal transmission by
ingestion or medical
procedures) is still unknown.
The current hypothesis proposes
a somatic mutation of the PrPC
gene into PrPSc gene or a
spontaneous conversion of
protein PrPC into protein
PrPSc. PrPC is encoded by a
gene on the short arm of
chromosome 20 in humans and it
is transmitted as a Mendelian
dominant trait. In fact about
25% of the CJD are hereditary.
However, many questions and
uncertainties remain unanswered
due to experimental
difficulties and insufficient
knowledge on prion proteins.
3.5. Situations of risk
There is conclusive
evidence showing that humans
might be infected by prions in
the following ways :
- Hereditary
transmission (Mendelian by an
autosomal and dominant trait)
- Oral ingestion of a
contaminated specific risk
material (brain, spinal cord,
bone marrow, organs and
viscera)
- Contamination through
medical procedures such as
surgery or medicinal products
(intracerebral, intravenous,
intraperitoneal, subcutaneous
and intramuscular
administration).
3.6. Conclusion
Whereas :
1) At present, prions
associated with TSE have not
been detected in hair and thus
are not considered as a
specific risk material
according to the SSC opinion
(ref. 3, 13).
2) In a study of risk
assessment (ref. 7, 8) the
industrial process to obtain
the evaluated product reduces
the number of infectious units
to an inactivation factor of
1011.6 which is safer than the
EU adopted inactivation factor
in the industrial production of
gelatine which is 102.84. These
inactivation factors have been
determined using the same
bioassay which evaluate TSE by
assessing the presence and
infectivity of PrPSc of
infectious Syrian hamster
scrapie agent. In environmental
public health microbiology, an
inactivation factor of 104 is
usually considered to be safe.
An additional consideration is
that gelatine is obtained from
animal bones, including bone
marrow, which is a material
with a high risk of CJD
transmission.
3). Cosmetic uses of
these hydrolysates are for
topical application only, which
completely excludes the known
routes of transmission for
human TSE.
4) At present, neither
PrPC or PrPSc have been
detected in human hair and
there is no evidence indicating
that TSE may be transmitted by
topical application. The only
reason to analyse the potential
transmissible risk of CJD by
prions from human hair are the
two recent papers (ref. 5, 6)
that describe the presence of
PrPC (not PrPSc) in skin.
5) The vigorous
conditions of the hydrolysis'
method (>20% HCl, >6h,
>100°C) in combination with
compulsory control testing for
absence of peptides, may
guarantee the exclusion of
transmissible PrPSc.
3.7. Opinion
The SCCNFP is of the
opinion that amino acids
obtained by hydrolysis of human
hair can be considered safe as
long as they are not
contaminated with risk
material.
The opinion is based on
current knowledge on TSE and on
the fact that amino acids can
not transmit TSE.
3.8. Answers to the
questions asked by DG ENTR
:
- Does the information
contained in the safety dossier
support the modification of
entry 416 of Annex II to
reflect the COLIPA proposal
given above?
Answer of the SCCNFP :
the current scientific
knowledge fully support the
modification of entry 416 of
Annex II to reflect the COLIPA
proposal (see page 2).
- Does the SCCNFP
recommend alternative
conditions/restrictions?
Answer of the SCCNFP :
the SCCNFP does not recommend
alternative conditions nor
restrictions.
4. References
1. COLIPA, 1999.
Submission I. Concerned
substances: Cells, tissues or
products of human origin. Amino
Acids from Human Hair
Hydrolysed. January 2000.
2. COLIPA, 2000.
Submission II. Concerned
substances: Cells, tissues or
products of human origin.
AminoAcids from Human Hair
Hydrolysed. January 2000.
3. E.C. (European
Commission), 1998. Listing of
specified risk materials: a
scheme for assessing relative
risks to man. Opinion of the
Scientific Steering Committee.
Adopted on 9 December 1997,
re-edited on 22-23 January
1998.
4. E.C. (European
Commission), 1998. Risk
quantification for CJD
transmission via substances of
human origin. Opinion of the
Scientific Committee on
Medicinal Products and Medical
Devices. Adopted on 21 October
1998.
5. Lemaire-Vieille, C.,
Schulze, T., Podevin-Mimster,
V., Follet, J., Bailly, Y.,
Blanquet-Grossard, F., Decavel,
J-P., Heinen, E., Cesbron,
J-Y., (2000). Epithelial and
endothelial expression of the
green fluorescent protein gene
under the control of bovine
prion protein (PrP) gene
regulatory sequences in
transgenic mice. PNAS, 97 (10):
5422-5427.
6. Pammer, J., Weninger,
W. and Tschachler, E. (1998)
Human keratinocytes express
cellular prion-related proteins
in vitro and during
inflammatory skin disease.
American Journal of Pathology
153, 1353-1358.
7. Riesner D. and T.
Appel. 1998. Risk assessment
for L-Cystine, L-cisteine and
derived products from keratin
(human hair). (Two reports)
Institute of Physical Biology,
Heinrich Heine Universität
Düsseldorf.
8. Riesner D. and T.
Appel. 1999. Risk assessment
for L-Cystine, L-cisteine and
derived products from keratin
(human hair). Part IV. Bioassay
results: removal of TSE
infectivity by HCl treatment
and filtration.. Institute of
Physical Biology, Heinrich
Heine Universität Düsseldorf.
9. E.C. (European
Commission), 1998.Safety of
hydrolysed proteins produced
from bovine hides. Opinion of
the Scientific Steering
Committee. Adopted on 22-23
October.
10. E.C. (European
Commission), 1998. Opinion of
the Scientific Steering
Committee on the Safety of
Gelatine. Adopted on 26-27
March 1998.
11. E.C. (European
Commission), 1999. Evaluation
of the "133º/20'/3
bars/pressure conditions" for
the production of gelatine
regarding its equivalency with
commonly used industrial
gelatine production processes
in terms of its capacity of
inactivating/eliminating
possible TSE infectivity in the
raw material. Report and
Opinion of the Scientific
Steering Committee- Adopted on
21-22 January 1999.
12. E.C. (European
Commission), 1996. Opinion of
the Scientific Committee on
Cosmetology concerning Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy.
Adopted on 4 October 1996.
13. E.C. (European
Commission), 2000.
Considerations on the safety of
amino acids from human hair
hydrolysate used in cosmetic
products for topical
application, with regard to
transmissible Spongiform
Encephalopathy risks. Opinion
of the Scientific Steering
Committee. Adopted on 25-26 May
2000.