AB 728

AB728:v98#DOCUMENT

Bill Start

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 728

An act to add Chapter 14.5 (commencing with Section 108990) to Part 3 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to public health.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 728, as amended, Lee. Skin care product sales: age verification.

Under existing law, it is unlawful for a person who is under 18 years of age to purchase etching cream or an aerosol container of paint that is capable of defacing property. Existing law further makes it unlawful for a person, firm, or corporation, except as specified, to furnish to a person who is under 18 years of age any etching cream or aerosol container of paint without first obtaining bona fide evidence of majority and identity. Existing law punishes a violation of these provisions as a misdemeanor.

This bill would make it unlawful for a person, firm, or corporation to sell to another person, who is in fact under 18 years of age, an over-the-counter anti-aging skin care product or anti-aging cosmetic product that lists as an ingredient vitamin A or an alpha hydroxy acid, as specified, acid without first verifying the purchaser’s age and identity. The bill would define “verifying age and identity” to include, among other things, verbally asking the buyer’s age and asking for documents that are evidence of age and identity related to the age-based prohibitions for aerosol paint and etching cream.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO Local Program: NO

Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Chapter 14.5 (commencing with Section 108990) is added to Part 3 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:

CHAPTER 14.5. Skin Care Sales: Age Verification

108990.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) California has enacted many laws that restrict the sale of certain products to minors at retail stores, including, but not limited to, medication, fireworks, lottery tickets, spray paint, alcohol, weapons, and tanning devices, thereby requiring retailers to verify the purchaser’s age.

(b) Based upon these examples, there exist many time-tested, longstanding, and familiar methods of restricting the sale of products at the retail points of sale and verifying the age of the purchaser.

(c) Regulatory bodies, including the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), do not require testing of cosmetic products, such as anti-aging creams, on children. Only products specifically intended for use by children, such as baby lotions, sunscreens, and medications, undergo age-appropriate testing.

(d) (1) Published reports document the skyrocketing use of anti-aging products containing retinoids and alpha hydroxy acids by children, disproportionately by young girls.

(2) Use of these products can cause skin irritation, burns, breakouts, and even long-term damage, according to the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

(3) UCLA Health reported that retinols can cause a scaly rash and make consumers more susceptible to sunburn and sun damage.

(4) As the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) reported, seven dermatologists observed that “tweens and young teenagers have been showing up at their offices in droves with red, dry, bumpy and itchy rashes after using skin care products they don’t need. Some dermatologists said it happens monthly or weekly; others said they see such patients multiple times per day.”

(5) The growing trend of children as young as eight years of age using (retinoid) skin care products could leave them with irreversible skin problems, the British Association of Dermatologists has warned.

(6) In 2023, a NielsonIQ report found that consumers under 14 years of age drove 49 percent of drugstore skin care product sales, and that households with teens and tweens outspend the average American household on skin care.

(e) This problem is so pervasive that in 2024, Sweden’s pharmacy chain Apotek Hjärtat set age limits for purchasing products due to concerns of young teens consuming anti-aging personal care and beauty products designed for adults.

(f) There is no evidence to suggest an actual need for children to purchase and use anti-aging products.

(g) It is at least as important to prevent the potential of irreversible skin problems of children’s faces from products containing chemicals that are not manufactured, tested, nor intended for use by children as it is to prevent damage to property from the sale of spray paint or etching cream to children.

108991.

(a) It shall be unlawful for a person, firm, or corporation to sell to another person, who is in fact under 18 years of age, an over-the-counter anti-aging skin care product or anti-aging cosmetic product that lists any of the following chemicals as an ingredient without first verifying the purchaser’s age and identity:

(1) Vitamin A and its derivatives, including, but not limited to, retinoids and retinol.

(2) An alpha hydroxy acid, including, but not limited to, glycolic acid, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), or citric acid. acid.

(b) For purposes of this section, “verifying age and identity” may include, but is not limited to, any of the following:

(1) The documents described in Section 594.1 of the Penal Code, relating to spray paint and etching cream evidencing the age and identity of an individual, which have been issued by a federal, state, or local governmental entity, including, but not limited to, a motor vehicle operator’s license, a registration certificate issued under the federal Selective Service Act, or an identification card issued to a member of the Armed Forces.

(2) An age verification system, including a date of birth entry or checkbox verifying age system.

(3) Asking the buyer’s age verbally.