Groupe Marcelle, a Quebec cosmetics company, was ordered Tuesday to pay a $500,000 fine for violating the law. Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
Between April 2021 and May 2022, agents of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) conducted various audits and conducted an inspection at Groupe Marcelle's headquarters, in Dorval. They then noticed that eye and lip pencils from the brands Lise Watier, Marcelle, and Annabelle were being marketed with perfluorononyl dimethicone.
However, the marketing of cosmetics containing perfluorononyl dimethicone is considered a “new activity” within the meaning of Article Canadian Environmental Protection Act. To do this, it requires certain information to first be provided to the Government of Canada, an obligation that the Marcel Group has not respected.
Environment and Climate Change Canada said in a press release that the company pleaded guilty and the affected products were removed from the distribution chain. The fine of half a million will be paid to the Environmental Damage Fund and Groupe Marcelle will be added to the register of environmental violators.
No more perfluorononyl dimethicone at Groupe Marcelle
In a press release, Groupe Marcelle confirmed that the manufacturers of the products in which Perfluorononyl Dimethicone was found “did not inform Groupe Marcelle that the substance was subject to the requirements resulting from a notification” from the ECCC. Furthermore, the company says, “Health Canada has never reported any concerns” regarding this substance.
It also ensures that it “stopped distributing products containing the substance” as soon as it was notified by the ECCC. Groupe Marcelle subsequently made a complete recall of approximately 220,000 units of the affected pencils, which were destroyed. [et] It has since reformulated the affected pencils and stopped using perfluoronyl dimethicone in all of its products.
Perfluorononyl dimethicone makes it possible to increase the stability and durability of cosmetics. It is part of the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which make up a group of several thousand synthetic substances.
These substances, which are still little known, are found in varying concentrations in a wide range of products. They are often referred to as “eternal pollutants” because of their persistence in the environment, according to the National Institute of Public Health in Quebec.
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