 DEAS  336: 2023  
ICS 71.100.70 
 
© EAC 2023                                                                                                                              Third Edition 2023   
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Hair remover — Specification — Alkaline thioglycollic based   
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS  336: 2023  
ii © EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
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. DEAS  336: 2023  
© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Foreword  
Development of the East Af rican Standards has been necessitated by the need for harmonizing requirements 
governing quality of products and services in the East African Community. It is envisaged that through 
harmoniz ed standardization, trade barriers that are encountered when goods  and services are exchanged 
within the Community will be removed.  
The Community has established an East African Standards Committee  (EASC)  mandated to develop and 
issue East African Standar ds (EAS) . The Committee is composed of representatives of the Nati onal 
Standards Bodies in Partner States, together with the representatives from the public and private sector 
organizations  in the community .  
East African Standards are developed through  Technical Committees that are representative of key 
stakeholders inc luding government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties. 
Draft East African Standards are circulated to stakeholders through the National Standards Bodies i n the 
Partner States. The comments received are discussed and inco rporated before finalization of standards, in 
accordance with the Principles and procedures for development of East African Standards.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological advances. Users of the East 
African Standa rds are therefore expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing .  
The committee responsible  for this document is Technical Committee EAS C/TC 071, [Cosmetics and related 
products.  
Attention is drawn to t he possibility that some of the elements of this document may be subject of patent 
rights. EAC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  
This third edition  cancels and replaces the  second/  edition ( EAS 336:2013 ), which ha s been technically 
revised.  DEAS  336: 2023  
iv © EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  
 Introduction  
Depilatories are preparations applied to the body to remove unwanted hair. Such preparations may involve 
epilation or chemical depilation. Epilation  is a process in which hair is embedded in an adherent material 
which can then be pulled away from the skin bringing the hair with it.  
Epilatory preparations are essentially based on rosin and beeswax. Alkaline thioglycollic based depilatories  on 
the oth er hand cause chemical degradation of the hair, and may have organo -mercapto compounds (the most 
common being thioglycollic acid and its salts), metal sulphides or stannites (tin) -based composition.  
 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS  336:2023  
 
© EAC 2023  – All rights  reserved  1 
 Hair remover — Specification — Alkaline thioglycollic based  
1 Scope  
This Draft East African Standard specifies the requ irements, sampling and test methods for alkaline 
thioglycollic based hair removers .  
NOTE   The product may also be referred to as chemical depila tory. 
This standard does not cover hair removers  of the epilatory type and those having metallic sulphides or 
stannite composition.  
 
2 Normative references  
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of the ir conte nt constitutes 
requirements of this document.  For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated r eferences, 
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.  
EAS 346, Labelling of cosmetics — General requirem ents  
EAS 377 (all parts), Cosmetics and cosmetic products  
EAS 846 , Glossary of terms relating to the cosmetic in dustry  
EAS 847 -16, Cosmetics — Analytical methods — Part 16: Determination of lead, mercury and arsenic content  
EAS 847 -17, Cosmetics — Analyti cal methods — Part 17: Determination of pH  
EAS 847 -18, Cosmetics — Analytical methods — Part 18: Determination of  thermal stability  
ISO 18416, Cosmetics — Microbiology — Detection of Candida albicans  
ISO 21149, Cosmetics — Microbiology — Enumerati on and d etection of aerobic mesophilic bacteria  
ISO 21150 , Cosmetics — Microbiology — Detection of Escherichia coli  
ISO 22717, Cosmetics — Microbiology — Detection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa  
ISO 22718, Cosmetics — Microbiology — Detection of Staphylococcus  aureus  
ISO 24153, Random sampling and randomization procedures  
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this document , the terms and definitions given in EAS 846  and the  following apply.  ISO 
and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standard ization at the following addresses:  
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp   
2 © EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  
 depilatory   
preparation  applied to the body to remove unwanted hair. They may be in the form of a cream, gel  or loti on 
4 Requirements  
4.1 General re quireme nts 
4.1.1  Alkaline thioglycollic based hair remove r  shall comply with the requ irements specified in all parts of 
EAS 377.  
4.1.2  In addition, the product shall:  
a) convert human hair comple tely, in  accordance with the instructions of use, to a soft plastic mass 
which may be easily removed from the skin by wiping or rinsing;  
b) non-toxic systemically and non-irritan t to skin even on long contact; and 
c) be stain -free to clothing.  
4.2 Specific requirements  
Alkaline thioglycollic based hair remover  shall comply with the specific requirements given in Table 1 when 
tested in accordance with the t est methods specified therein.  
Table 1 — Specific requirements for alkaline thioglycollic based hair remover  
S/No.  Characteristic  Requirement  Test method  
i.  pH neat   11.0- 12.7 EAS 847 -17  
ii.  Calcium thioglycollate, calculated as 
thioglycollic acid, % by m ass  2.5- 5.0 Annex A  
iii.  Thermal stability  To pass the test  EAS 847 -18 
iv.  Free alkali  To pass test  Annex B  
 
4.3 Heavy metal contaminants  
Alkali ne thiog lycollic based hair remover  shall comply with the limits for heavy metal contaminants given in 
Table 2  when tested in accordance with the test methods specified therein . 
Table 2 — Limits  for hea vy metal contaminants  for alkaline thioglycollic based hair remover  
S/No.  Characteristic  Maximum limita 
mg/kg  Test method  
i. Lead  10 EAS 847 -16  
ii. Arsenic  2 
iii. Mercury  2 
a The total amount of hea vy metal s as lead, mercury and arsenic, in combination, in the finished product shall not exceed 10 mg/kg.  
  
© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  3 
 4.4 Microbiological limits  
Alkaline thioglycollic based hair remover  shall comply wit h the mi crobiologica l limits given in Table 3 when 
tested in accordance with the test methods specified therein.  
Table 3 — Microbiological limits for Alkaline thioglycollic based hair remover  
S/No.  Micro -organism  Limit, Test method  
i Total viable count for aerobic 
mesophylli c microorganisms, 
CFU/g , max.  100 ISO 21149  
ii Pseudomonas aeruginosa  Not detected in 1 g of cosmetic 
product  ISO 22717  
iii Staphylococcus aureus  ISO 22718  
iv Candida albicans  ISO 18416  
v Escheri chia coli  Not detected in 1 g of cosmetic 
product  ISO 2 1150  
5 Packaging  
The product shall be packaged in suitable well -sealed containers that shall protect the contents and shall not 
cause any contamination or react with the product.  
6 Labelling  
In addition, to t he label ling requirements given in EAS 346, eac h package shall be legibly and indelibly marked 
with the  following  
a) product name as “ Alkaline thioglycollic based hair remover ” or ”Hair remover X” wh ere “X” denotes the 
form/presentation  of the product . 
b) contact ti me permitted for the product to completely  remove hair from the body;  
c) instruction for use including  the following:  
i. never use the product beyond the time as specified on the package by the manufacturer.  
ii. never use the product on inflamed or broken sk in or ne ar the eyes. Should this occur, rinse with  
running water If symptoms persist, seek medical advice  . 
iii. if used for the first time, carry out the following patch test.  
Use a little hair remover over 5 cm2 of skin on the inner elbow. If 24 h later th e skin i s normal, the 
material may be safely used.  
d) warnings:  
i. contains thioglycolate  
ii. follow the instructions  
iii. keep out of reach of children  
  
4 © EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  
 7 Samp ling 
Sampling shall be do ne in accordance with ISO 24153 .  
© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  5 
 Annex A  
(normative)  
 
Determination of calcium thioglycolate  
A.1 Reagents  
A.1.1  Concentrat ed hydrochloric acid  
A.1.2  Standard iodine solution, 0.1 N  
A.1.3  Starch indicator solution, 0.5 % (m/ v), fres hly prepared  
A.2 Procedure  
Accurately weigh about 5 g of the sample in a 250 mL conical flask. Add about 75 mL of water and 15 mL of 
concentrated h ydrochloric acid and heat on a water bath for 10 min. Cool to room temperature and then titrate 
with iodine s olution using starch solution as the indicator.  
A.3 Calculation  
The thioglycollic acid, expressed as percent, shall be calculated as follows;  
 
where 
M is the mass, in grams, of sample taken for test; and  
V is the volume, in millilitres, of 0.1 N i odine so lution used   
6 © EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  
 Annex B 
(normative)  
 
Determination of free alkali content  
B.1 Outline of the method  
This method consists of dissolving the sample in a lcohol, and titrating against standard acid.  
B.2 Reagents  
B.2.1 Phenolphthalein indicator solu tion, dissolve 1 g of phenolphthalein in 100 mL of 95 % (v/v) rectified 
spirit.  
B.2.2 Ethyl alcohol, freshly boiled, and neutral to phenolphthalein, 95 % (v/v)   
B.2.3 Standard hydrochloric acid, 0.1 N  
B.3 Procedure  
Dissolve 2 g of the product in 10 0 mL of ethyl alcohol by warming, if necessary. Cool and add a few drops of 
phenolphthalein indicator. Titrate with standard hydrochloric acid.  
B.4 Calculation  
The free alkali , expressed as percent, shall be calculated as follows;  
 
where  
C is a Constan t 
C = 2. 4 for LiOH  
C = 4 for NaOH, KOH and LiOH  
C = 5.6 for KOH  
C = 3.7 for Ca(OH) 2 
C = 3.5 for NH 4OH 
V is the volume, in millilitres, of standard hydrochloric acid;  
N is the normality of standard hydrochloric acid; and  
M is the mass, in grams, of the samp le.  
© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  7 
 Wher e mixtures of sodium, lithium and potassium hydroxide are present in the product, the free alkali content 
shall not exceed 2.5 % by mass when calculated as sod ium hydroxide   
8 © EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  
 Bibliography  
EAS 336 : 2013,  Chemical depilatories — Specification   
 DEAS  336: 2023    
 
© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  
  
  