Dubai joins global efforts to screen for banned nail polish chemical TPO

UAE – The Dubai Municipality has proactively upgraded its Central Laboratory with new testing methods to detect the presence of trimethylbenzoyl diphenylphosphine oxide (TPO), a nail polish ingredient recently banned in the European Union due to its reproductive toxicity. 

This enhancement enables authorities in Dubai to systematically screen both imported and locally available nail polish products for this harmful chemical, thus preventing potentially dangerous items from reaching consumers. 

The initiative aligns Dubai’s cosmetic product safety regulations more closely with those of the EU and other global markets, enhancing consumer protection in the region’s significant beauty sector.

TPO is a photoinitiator widely used in gel nail polishes to cure and harden under ultraviolet light in both professional salons and consumer products. 

While it was initially considered safe at low concentrations in 2014, subsequent animal studies in Europe revealed significant reproductive harm, including damage to male mice’s reproductive organs and disrupted fertility cycles in females. 

Consequently, in 2023, the European Chemicals Agency classified TPO as a “substance of very high concern” with no available substitutes, leading to the EU ban effective September 1, 2025.

Dubai’s step to boost laboratory testing capacity reflects this global trend and sends a clear message to beauty industry professionals to cease using TPO-containing products immediately.

This enhanced testing capability is significant given the risk TPO poses to consumers, especially through accidental contact with skin near the cuticles, increasing the urgency for regulatory oversight. 

Dubai’s move exemplifies the growing international effort to phase out harmful cosmetic ingredients in favor of safer alternatives, despite current challenges faced by manufacturers who have yet to find replacements for TPO.

Meanwhile, the Moroccan Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AMMPS) recently banned the use of Trimethylbenzoyl Diphenylphosphine Oxide (TPO) in cosmetic products, particularly those used in nail care, such as UV-curing nail gels and polishes. 

This ban is comprehensive, covering the marketing, manufacturing, importation, distribution, and use of all cosmetics containing TPO, and it became effective immediately.

The decision by AMMPS is grounded in a rigorous toxicological review of the substance’s safety profile and aligns Morocco with recent regulatory actions taken in the European Union, which implemented a similar ban under Commission Regulation (EU) 2025/877 as of September 1, 2025. 

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