WRITTEN QUESTION E-3811/03 by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission. The spread of androgenetic alopecia.
Date: 2003-12-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: consumer protection, cosmetic product, disease vector, epidemiology, food contamination, hormone, public health

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/645

(2004/C 78 E/0685)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3792/03

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

(11 December 2003)

Subject: Update on funding for the municipality of Pesaro-Urbino under the Tempus III programme

In reply to my earlier question E-1168/03 (1) asking whether the municipality of Pesaro had submitted
projects and obtained funding under the Tempus III programme, the Commission said on 8 March 2003
that no projects had been submitted.

Is the Commission aware of whether, since that date, the municipality has submitted any projects, secured
funding and made use of any funds granted?

(1) OJ C 242 E, 9.10.2003, p. 184.

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(29 January 2004)

It should be noted that municipalities are not eligible for Tempus funding. However, since March 2003,
there have been several calls for proposals under the Tempus programme, the most recent being that of
15 December 2003. In response to these calls, the university of Urbino (Università degli studi di Urbino)
submitted a proposal for a project involving universities in Spain, Morocco and Malta. The selection
procedure has begun and the final decision will be taken in June 2004 to allow projects to get under way
during the 2004/2005 academic year.

Projects funded under the Tempus programme generally involve several universities,
from both EU
countries and partner countries. These projects relate to the development and reform of higher education
in those countries which are the final recipients of Community funding.

(2004/C 78 E/0686)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3811/03

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission

(11 December 2003)

Subject: The spread of androgenetic alopecia

According to research carried out by the Dermatology Department of California University in San
Francisco 15 % of adolescents under 17 are losing their hair, the average age of onset being 14 for girls
and 16 for boys. The Dermatology Faculty of Bologna University carried out a four-year study on children
aged 6 to 10 who showed signs of baldness. All of them had parents suffering from androgenetic alopecia.
But what are the possible causes of premature baldness? The ‘Journal of the American Academy of
Dermatology’ has published the findings of research carried out by the dermatologist Antonella Tosti at
Bologna University, which summarise the causes of the phenomena: an early onset of adrenarche, the
hormonal process which starts two or three years before puberty, a high glycaemic diet, which may speed
up the onset of the pre-pubertal phase, the use of cosmetic products containing estrogens and placenta and
contamination of food with estrogen hormones.

In view of the risks to young people of this pathology (cid:1) since very early baldness may be a warning of
other dysfunctions (cid:1) can the Commission say:

(cid:1) whether it is aware of the problem;

(cid:1) whether it does not consider that governments should be made aware of this disease and the need to
step up controls on cosmetic products and foodstuffs likely to contain placenta and/or estrogen
hormones?

C 78 E/646

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(30 January 2004)

Androgenetic alopecia causes hair loss in men and women and is characterized as hormonally driven hair
loss in the genetically susceptible individual. The epidemiology of androgenetic alopecia is not fully
understood. A strong genetic basis has long been identified but little is known of its non-genetic causes.
Recent research (1) on the epidemiology of the disease suggested that evidence for environmental influences
remains very slight. Dr A. Tosti has reported about 20 cases of unexplained and very early baldness, most
patients belonging to genetically predisposed families. Since early baldness has an endocrine component,
intake of compounds containing estrogens was suspected as a concurrent factor. Due to the limitations of
the studies further evidence is required.

The Commission has sponsored numerous projects that are elucidating the effects of endocrine disrupting
substances, including estrogens, on various organs in the human body (2). Many of them focus on food as
an intake route. The Commission expects the results, when available, to contribute to the Regulation of
chemical substances (authorisation or restriction). The Eurisked project (3) in particular, includes studies on
the effects on estrogens present in cosmetic products, which will contribute to the risk assessment and
regulation later on regarding cosmetic products. In an ongoing call, with a deadline in February 2004
launched by Priority 5 (Food Quality and Safety) of the 6th Framework Programme, research proposals are
solicited on early onset of puberty, which appears to have strong similarities with the phenomenon of
androgenetic alopecia. Once a project or projects in this domain have been selected and funded, the
Commission can, in the negotiation phase, seek to ensure that the research to be undertaken includes
studies on this phenomenon.

The Member States and the Commission discuss regularly the public health priorities in the Union in the
context of the public health programme. This problem has not been prioritised during the discussions on
the work programmes for 2003 or 2004.

Cosmetic products are regulated by Council Directive 76/768/EEC of 27 July 1976 (4). The Directive states,
as a general principle that only cosmetic products that do not cause damage to human health can be put
on the market (Article 2 of the Directive).

The Directive includes specific measures, for example certain ingredients must not form part of a cosmetic
product. Annex II of the Directive lists ‘estrogens’ as No 260. Therefore, estrogens are banned in cosmetic
products. Placenta is not listed in the inventory of cosmetic ingredients used in cosmetic products
(Commission Decision 96/335/EC of 8 May 1996 establishing an inventory and a common nomenclature
of ingredients employed in cosmetic products) (5). It is a raw material used to produce the following
cosmetic ingredients: hydrolyzed human placental protein; hydrolyzed placental protein; placental
enzymes; placental
lipids; placental protein. These ingredients are obtained from mammalian placenta,
but are not allowed to contain estrogens.

Article 3 of the Directive stipulates that Member States should take all necessary measures to ensure that
only cosmetic products which conform to the provisions of this Directive and its Annexes may be put on
the market.

The use of hormones for growth promotion in livestock is prohibited in the Community since 1988. The
legislation currently in force is Council Directive 96/22/EC of 29 April 1996 concerning the prohibition
on the use in stockfarming of certain substances having a hormonal or thyrostatic action and of beta-
agonists (6), as amended by Directive 2003/74/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 22 September
2003 (7).

(1) Severi G et al. Br J Dermatol. 2003 Dec;149(6):1207-13.
(2) http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/endocrine/index_en.html
(3) http://www.eurisked.org/index.htm
(4) OJ L 262, 27.9.1976.
(5) OJ L 132, 1.6.1996.
(6) OJ L 125, 23.5.1996.
(7) OJ L 262, 14.10.2003.