OTTAWA — Cosmetics company Estée Lauder has been fined $750,000 after federal agents found it was using “forever chemicals” in some of its eyeliner products.

The company has pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

In May 2023, Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers found the company was selling some eyeliner products that had perfluorononyl dimethicone listed as an ingredient.

The substance is a silicone polymer used in makeup to increase hold, durability and water resistance, and is among the class of substances known as PFAS.

That’s a group of more than 1,200 chemical compounds whose failure to break down easily in the environment or the human body has given them the name “forever chemicals.”

Environment and Climate Change Canada says the company was required to notify the government before importing, selling or distributing products with the substance and it failed to do so.

“This important requirement allows the government to assess potential health or environmental risks in advance,” says a news release from Environment and Climate Change Canada.

In June 2023, officers issued an environmental protection compliance order to the company outlining steps it had to take to become compliant with the requirements of the Act, but the government said the company didn’t follow the order.

The Canadian Press has reached out to Estée Lauder for comment but has yet to receive a response.

The company has been ordered by the Ontario court of justice to notify its shareholders about the conviction. The company’s name will also be added to the government’s environmental offenders registry.

The news release says the fine will be directed to the federal government’s environmental damages fund. The fund directs money received from fines, penalties, court orders and voluntary payments to projects to repair environmental damage or aid the environment.

Estée Lauder isn’t the only company that has been fined in recent years for having perfluorononyl dimethicone in its products.

In March 2024, Groupe Marcelle Inc. was ordered by the Court of Québec to pay a $500,000 fine for marketing cosmetic products — including Lise Watier, Marcelle and Annabelle brand eye and lip pencils — containing the substance.

Environment and Climate Change Canada says those products were withdrawn from the distribution chain.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2026.

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press