Manila LGU Urged to Go After Retailers of Banned Mercury-Laden Skin Whitening Cosmetics
A toxics watch group today urged the Manila City
Government to take action against retailers of mercury-laced skin whitening
products that pose imminent danger or injury to consumers.
The EcoWaste Coalition made the plea after buying two brands of imported skin
lightening creams from China that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had
banned in 2010 and 2015.
“We call upon the local government, health and police authorities of the City
of Manila to go after unscrupulous retailers of banned cosmetics contaminated
with mercury, a chemical that is highly hazardous to health and the
environment,” said Thony Dizon, Chemical Safety Campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition.
The FDA had earlier requested local government units and law enforcement
agencies “to ensure that these products are not sold or made available in their
localities or areas of jurisdiction.”
In test buys conducted yesterday, July 7, the group bought Jiaoli
Miraculous Cream and S’Zitang 10 Days Eliminating Freckle Day & Night Set
from stalls selling beauty products and herbal food supplements at a shopping
mall in Recto Avenue, Quiapo, Manila.
With the help of a handheld X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometer, the group detected
2,077 parts per million (ppm) in the day cream of the Jiaoli product and 311
ppm in its night cream.
For the S’Zitang product, the day cream had 2,879 ppm of mercury and the night
cream had 1,566 ppm.
Mercury is not allowed as an ingredient in cosmetic product formulations under
the ASEAN Cosmetic Directive, which has also set 1 ppm as the maximum trace
amount limit for mercury in cosmetics.
According to FDA Advisory 2010-002 banning Jiaoli, “cosmetic products
containing such impurities/contaminants that are way beyond the allowable limit
clearly pose imminent danger or injury to the consuming public.”
First banned in 2015 through FDA Advisory 2015-025, the FDA reiterated the ban
on S’Zitang with the issuance of FDA Advisory 2018-183 last May 29.
According to the FDA, “adverse health effects brought about by highly toxic
mercury in cosmetic products include kidney damage, skin rashes, skin
discoloration and scarring. Chronic use reduces the skin’s normal
resistance against bacterial and fungal infections.”
“Other effects include anxiety, depression or psychosis and peripheral
neuropathy,” the FDA said.
It also warned that “the transfer of mercury to fetuses of pregnant women may
manifest as neurodevelopmental deficits later in life.”
The EcoWaste Coalition said that skin lightening creams and soaps with mercury
content above 1 ppm are subject to phase-out by 2020 under the Minamata
Convention on Mercury, which the Philippines signed in 2013.
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Reference:
https://ww2.fda.gov.ph/index.p
https://ww2.fda.gov.ph/attachm
https://ww2.fda.gov.ph/index.p
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