Group alarmed over sale of mercury-laden skin whiteners in CDO

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – A city official here said they will look into the proliferation of imported mercury-laden skin-whitening products being sold openly in public markets following a report by the environmental and health advocate EcoWaste Coalition.

Head of the city’s joint inspection team, lawyer Jose Edgardo Uy, said Tuesday that the coalition report must be acted upon.

“We will not wait for complaints from the consumers. If the report says these products have adverse effects, we have to act,” Uy said in an interview, adding that they will conduct a surprise inspection.

EcoWaste chemical safety campaigner, Thony Dizon, has said that tests made on various lightening creams purchased locally showed the products contain high levels of mercury, a highly toxic chemical.

The coalition’s findings coincided with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory warning the public against purchasing whitening products that were tested and found to contain mercury levels beyond the one part per million (1 ppm) limit.

The FDA listed down Renow-D New Facial Cream Formula-One, Goree Day and Night Whitening Cream Oil Free, and Goree Beauty Cream with Lycopene with SPF 30 Avocado and aloe vera as among those with high mercury content.

According to the EcoWaste report, Goree, Collagen Plus Vitamin E, JJJ, Jiaoli, S’Zitang, and Xinjiaoli are laden with mercury.

Tests using a portable X-ray fluorescence device showed that these products have a range of 125 to 22,700 ppm, way above the maximum allowable limit of 1 ppm.

“To our disbelief and dismay, FDA-banned skin whitening cosmetics are sold over the counter in (Cagayan de Oro) as if these products are legal and safe to use. Health experts have repeatedly warned that mercury-containing skin whiteners are hazardous to health,” Dizon said.

He noted that the product is still being sold in the city even if the FDA already banned it in 2017.

Dizon said they will ask the city government to stop the sale of these cosmetics and request the City Council to adopt an ordinance that will ban and penalize the manufacture, importation, distribution, and sale of mercury-containing skin-whitening cosmetics.

EcoWaste said mercury is not allowed as an ingredient in cosmetic products under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Cosmetic Directive.

Symptoms of mercury exposure include depression, drowsiness, exhaustion, hair loss, inflamed gums, irritability, memory loss, nervousness, rashes, sleeplessness, tingling of the extremities, tremors, and weakness. (PNA)