EcoWaste Coalition: Remove from the Shelves Hair Dyes with Banned Sodium Perborate
21 February 2025, Quezon City. Despite the ban, some hair dye products with sodium perborate, a compound that is classified as a “carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic (CMR) chemical,” can still be found on store shelves.
As reported by the EcoWaste Coalition to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last Monday, a locally-manufactured powder hair dyes containing sodium perborate as declared on the packaging are still being offered for sale in well-established chain stores in Makati, Manila and Parañaque Cities, which the group recently visited.
Further investigation by the group found the non-compliant products on sale in online shopping platforms, too.
“While it has already introduced new hair dyes with no sodium perborate, we urge the market authorization holder (MAH) to conduct an exhaustive withdrawal across the country of their non-compliant products in line with the ASEAN-wide decision to prohibit this CMR chemical in cosmetics,” the EcoWaste Coalition said.
Retailers, offline and online, were likewise requested to inspect their hair dye stocks and return those with sodium perborate to their suppliers for environmentally sound disposal.
To protect the public health, the group requested the FDA to ensure compliance by the MAH. It also proposed to the agency to issue a follow-up advisory reiterating the ban on perboric acid, sodium perborate and boron compounds in cosmetics to guide the regulated community, and the consumers.
The continued sale of cosmetic products containing sodium perborate goes against the decision of the ASEAN Cosmetic Committee (ACC) to include this and other boron compounds in Annex II Part I of the ASEAN Cosmetic Directive (ACD), the group emphasized.
Annex II of the ACD provides a long list of substances that must not form part of the composition of cosmetic products. The ACC in 2022 decided to include perboric acid, sodium perborate and boron compound in the said list and gave the industry two-years to reformulate and withdraw non-compliant products from the market. The ban took effect on November 21, 2024 as per FDA Circular No. 2023-007.
Back in 2016, the EcoWaste Coalition wrote to the FDA to support the listing of sodium perborate in Annex II of the ACD following the European Union-wide recall of some hair dye products containing this CMR chemical. The EU ban on sodium perborate in cosmetics started on December 1, 2010
“Sodium perborate releases boron and is forbidden in cosmetic products. Ingestion or contact with an excessive quantity of boron may harm the health by damaging the reproductive system or the unborn child,” the European health authorities warned.
According to material safety data sheets available online, inhalation, ingestion, skin and eye contact are the routes of exposure for sodium perborate.
Sodium perborate is harmful if inhaled, and may cause respiratory tract irritation. It is harmful if ingested, and may cause gastrointestinal irritation. It is harmful if absorbed by the skin, and may cause allergic reactions such as skin rash or swelling. It is harmful if exposed to the eyes, and may cause eye irritation or permanent eye damage. And it can damage fertility, and the unborn child.
Coinciding with the second anniversary of the issuance of FDA Circular No. 2023-007 on April 4, the EcoWaste Coalition will conduct a follow-up market investigation to check if the non-compliant hair dyes with sodium perborate have been withdrawn from the market.
References:
https://www.fda.gov.ph/fda-
https://single-market-economy.
Comments