According to WHO, mercury use in skin lightening products can cause adverse health effects, including skin rashes, discoloration and scarring and reduced skin's resistance to bacterial and mycotic skin disorders. Repeated applications of mercury-laden whiteners onto the skin can cause damage to the kidneys, the brain and the central nervous system, the WHO said. The World Health Organization (WHO) has listed mercury among the "ten chemicals of major public health concern," warning "mercury-containing skin lightening products are hazardous to health."
The EcoWaste Coalition urged the Pasay City
Government and the FDA to jointly enforce the law to stop the illicit trade of
mercury-added and other unauthorized cosmetics in the said budget shopping
malls. The group also asked the authorities to join them in promoting the
"love your natural skin tone, shun chemical whiteners" campaign.
Last Friday, the group conducted market
surveillance at Baclaran LRT Terminal Plaza and Baclaran Bagong Milenyo Plaza
and found mercury-added skin whitening creams visibly on display in store
shelves.
Among the banned skin whiteners sold over the
counter are Goree Beauty Cream, Goree Day & Night Cream and Parley Beauty
Cream all manufactured in Pakistan as indicated on their labels. The FDA
through Advisory No. 2017-289 and Advisory No. 2019-074 issued on October 30,
2017 and March 5, 2019 banned the said Goree and Parley products for testing
with mercury beyond the 1 ppm limit.
“Many years have gone by and we still find
Goree and Parley creams being sold in budget shopping malls and also in online
shopping platforms,” lamented Dizon.
The group also found Collagen Plus Vit E Day
& Night Cream reportedly smuggled from Indonesia on sale in the said Pasay
shopping malls. The FDA through Advisory No. 2021-646 banned this product for
lacking valid Certificate of Product Notification, warning “the use of such a
violative product may pose health risks to consumers.”
“We also found other mercury-laden facial
creams still on sale in the area despite the reports we have filed with the FDA
regarding their mercury content,” said Dizon.
Among the other unauthorized cosmetics
available in the area are AQME Beauty Cream, Golden Pearl Beauty Cream (new
packaging), Morning Face Beauty Cream, Parley Goldie Advanced Beauty Cream, and
Safora Beauty Cream – all “made in Pakistan,'' as written on their labels.
Previous analyses conducted by the EcoWaste
Coalition using an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) device found the said products with
extremely high concentrations of mercury ranging from 5,696 to 16,915 ppm.
Source:. https://www.mercuryconvention.org/en/news/information-session-2020-deadline-mercury-added-products
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