Mercury Tainted Cream Sold Online for P70
Good things do not necessarily come in small packages. The EcoWaste Coalition stressed this point after finding high levels of mercury in a small jar of facial cream, which is being sold online without the requisite authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Sold by an online seller based in Zamboanga City, the product is marked “Collagen Night Cream” in front and “Beauty Whitening Cream” at the back. It is offered for sale at Shopee for P70 per unit. The product contains no other labeling information. No manufacturer’s marking, no list of ingredients, no production and expiration dates, no batch code, etc.
Chemical screening performed by the group using an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) device found the “small but toxic” cosmetic laden with up to 6,701 parts per million (ppm) of mercury. Under the ASEAN Cosmetic Directive and the Minamata Convention on Mercury, cosmetics such as skin lightening products cannot contain mercury above the trace amount limit of 1 ppm.
“The presence of mercury in this unauthorized cosmetic underscores the importance of choosing products that are duly notified with the FDA,” said Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition. “In fact, the hundreds of mercury-tainted skin whitening products that we have bought since 2011 from various retailers and subsequently screened for mercury are not covered by any Certificate of Product Notification.”
The FDA through Director General Samuel Zacate issued Advisory No. 2023-2205 last October 10 warning the general public against the sale, offer for sale and purchase of unnotified cosmetic products.
“The FDA hereby warns (the general public) against purchasing any unnotified or violative cosmetic products that may be sold or offered for sale through unofficial channels, physical and online platforms,” stated the Advisory. “Such products did not undergo a review by the FDA nor by a local marketing authorization holder, to check compliance with quality and safety standards.”
Classified as one of the “ten chemicals or groups of chemicals of major public health concern” by the World Health Organization (WHO), “exposure to mercury - even in small amounts – may cause serious health problems, and is a threat to the development of the child in utero and early in life.”
“Adverse health effects of the inorganic mercury contained in skin lightening creams and soaps include: kidney damage, skin rashes, skin discoloration and scarring, reduction in the skin’s resistance to bacterial and fungal infections, anxiety, depression, psychosis and peripheral neuropathy,” the WHO said.
In addition to warning consumers against mercury lurking in some skin whiteners, the EcoWaste Coalition has been urging Filipinos from all walks of life to accept our natural skin tone to avoid exposure to mercury and other hazardous substances.
“We need to counter the deep-seated misbelief that white skin is ABC – attractive, beautiful and cleaner – compared to dark skin,” the EcoWaste Coalition said. “Colorism or skin color bias has to go. Beauty has no skin tone.”
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Reference:
https://shopee.ph/Collagen-
https://www.who.int/news-room/
https://www.who.int/
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