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Cosmetics company Estée Lauder has been fined $750,000 after federal agents found it was using “forever chemicals” in some of its eyeliner products.
The company has pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
In May 2023, Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers found the company was selling some eyeliner products that had perfluorononyl dimethicone listed as an ingredient.
The substance is a silicone polymer used in makeup to increase hold, durability and water resistance, and is among the class of substances known as PFAS.
That’s a group of thousands of human-made chemical compounds whose failure to break down easily in the environment or the human body has given them the name “forever chemicals.”
Environment and Climate Change Canada says the company was required to notify the government before importing, selling or distributing products with the substance and it failed to do so.
“This important requirement allows the government to assess potential health or environmental risks in advance,” says a news release from Environment and Climate Change Canada.
In June 2023, officers issued an environmental protection compliance order to the company outlining steps it had to take to comply with the law, but the government said the company didn’t follow the order.
The Canadian Press has reached out to Estée Lauder for comment but has not received a response.
Canada is one step closer to moving a large swath of PFAS — a class of thousands of chemicals used in a wide range of products from food containers to clothing — to the country’s official list of toxic substances.
Company will be added to environmental offenders registry
The company has been ordered by the Ontario court of justice to notify its shareholders about the conviction. Its name will also be added to the government’s environmental offenders registry.
The news release says the fine will be directed to the federal government’s environmental damages fund. The fund directs money received from fines, penalties, court orders and voluntary payments toward projects to repair environmental damage or aid the environment.
Advocacy groups Environmental Defence, Ecojustice and Breast Cancer Action Quebec said in a joint statement that they were “pleased” to see the government enforcing chemical reporting rules and holding Estée Lauder to account.
“As other countries and states take quick regulatory action to phase out PFAS in products, Canada needs to catch up — or risk being left behind,” the statement reads. “We cannot allow Canada to become the dumping ground for PFAS products that are banned elsewhere.”
The groups said that, without stricter rules, Canadian products will face challenges reaching markets in countries that have stronger environmental and health standards.
They said Canada should finalize the listing of the PFAS class under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and draft regulations to get PFAS out of cosmetics, textiles and other target products.
The groups also said the government should renew funding for the chemicals management plan on a permanent basis and ensure researchers and regulatory enforcement at Environment and Climate Change Canada have “the resources needed to keep people in Canada and the environment safe.”
A new study out of UBC shows that so-called forever chemicals are making their way into sea otters off the coast of Vancouver Island, despite regulations from the Canadian government. As CBC’s Claire Palmer reports, researchers say that’s bad news for the marine ecosystem as a whole.
Estée Lauder isn’t the only company that has been fined in recent years for having perfluorononyl dimethicone in its products.
In March 2024, Groupe Marcelle Inc. was ordered by the Court of Quebec to pay a $500,000 fine for marketing cosmetic products — including Lise Watier, Marcelle and Annabelle brand eye and lip pencils — containing the substance.
Environment and Climate Change Canada said those products were withdrawn from the distribution chain.
