Scientific Advisory Group on Chemical Safety in Consumer Products
Information about and opinions from the Scientific Advisory Group on Chemical Safety of Non-Food and Non-Medicinal Consumer Products (SAG-CS).
Role
The Scientific Advisory Group on Chemical Safety of Non-Food and Non-Medicinal Consumer Products (SAG-CS) assesses and advises on chemical and biological risks to humans. SAG-CS is a scientific advisory group, commissioned by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS).
About us
The mission of the SAG-CS is to provide OPSS with scientific advice and risk assessment in the areas of public health and consumer safety. The SAG-CS’s remit shall relate notably to chemical and biological risks of non-food and non-medicinal consumer products such as:
- cosmetic products and their ingredients, including nanomaterials, hair dyes, preservatives, UV filters, colorants, and fragrance ingredients
- other non-food and non-medicinal consumer products such as toys and textiles
The SAG-CS is a scientific advisory group established in its present form in 2021 and has no regulatory status. However, it provides advice to OPSS that does have a regulatory role. Decisions on changes to legislation are ultimately made by Ministers, using independent scientific advice such as that provided by the SAG-CS.
Soon after their inception, the SAG-CS agreed to follow the Scientific Committee for Consumer Safety (SCCS) Notes of Guidance (NoG) in the short to medium term as a pragmatic step to expedite risk assessments. In these NoG, the SCCS has chosen to use a default adult bodyweight in some scenarios of 60 kg alongside the real-time data collected by Hall et al (2007, 2011) which are used in the product exposure calculations.
In April 2023, members of the SAG-CS discussed a proposal to revise the default adult body weight of 60 kg used in risk assessment to 70 kg. Members reviewed a range of bodyweight data from within the United Kingdom. From this data, it was clear that 60 kg is not currently a representative mean bodyweight amongst UK adults. The SAG-CS concluded that a default adult bodyweight of 70 kg would be more representative at this time.
Going forward, the SAG-CS will use 70 kg as their default bodyweight assumption for adults in new safety assessments. This change aligns with other UK groups, such as the UK Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment, who carry out chemical risk assessment across a range of sectors and have agreed that a default adult bodyweight of 70 kg is representative for the UK population.
Members
Current members are:
- Prof. Shirley Price – Chair (Emerita Professor of Toxicology, University of Surrey)
- Dr Camilla Alexander-White (Founding Director and Independent Chemicals Safety Assessor of MKTox & Co Ltd)
- Dr Gill Clare (Independent Genetic Toxicology Consultant)
- Prof. Shareen Doak (Professor of Genotoxicology and Cancer, Institute of Life Science, Swansea University Medical School)
- Dr David Lovell (Emeritus Reader in Medical Statistics, St George’s Medical School, University of London)
- Dr Michael Walker (Honorary Professor, Institute for Global Food Security, Queen’s University of Belfast)
- Prof. Faith M Williams (Emerita Professor in Toxicology, Newcastle University)
Meetings
The SAG-CS is expected to meet five times a year although additional meetings may be arranged based on requirements.
Provisional meeting dates for 2024 are:
- 20 February
- 30 April
- 17 July
- 19 September
- 14 November
Publications
The SAG-CS is commissioned by OPSS and is supported in drawing evidence together by its secretariat before producing an opinion. A SAG-CS opinion is a document which describes the conclusions and advice from a SAG-CS discussion. Opinions will normally contain the key points discussed within a meeting alongside the responses to the questions considered.
List of opinions
Contact
SAG-CS Secretariat
Office for Product Safety and Standards
1 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0ET
United Kingdom