Despite the health risks of mercury, skin whitening products that contained high levels of it are still all the rage in some parts of the country.
EcoWaste Coalition recently found eight of these products with extremely high mercury content in a market in Pasay City.
They were smuggled from Indonesia and Pakistan, the coalition noted. They were also being sold for P150 to P250 even without cosmetic product notifications from the country’s Food and Drug Administration.
These items for testing were purchased last August 5 before the re-implementation of the enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila.
Here’s the list of the products with their mercury content:
- Goree Day and Night Cream Beauty Cream, 31,600 ppm
2. Goree Beauty Cream with Lycopene, 27,400 ppm
3. AQME Beauty Cream, 18,700 ppm
4. Parley Beauty Cream, 13,700 ppm
5. Golden Pearl Beauty Cream, 9,926 ppm
6. Collagen Plus Vit E Day and Night Cream, 6,483 ppm
7. Morning Face Beauty Cream, 5,282 ppm
8. Safora Beauty Cream, 4,365 ppm
In its statement, EcoWaste explained that when they screened the products with the use of a portable X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) device, they found mercury levels ranging from 4,365 to 31,600 parts per million (ppm) on them.
The international limit of mercury content for products is only one ppm.
This is set by the Minamata Convention, an international treaty that aims to protect people’s health and the environment against harmful chemicals.
This is also the standard under the ASEAN Cosmetic Directive.
Due to the brands’ high level of mercury, EcoWaste noted that FDA had already banned some of them, wherein:
- Parley Beauty Cream in 2019
- Goree Beauty Cream in 2017
- Golden Pearl Beauty Cream in 2014
- Collagen Plus Vit E Day & Night Cream last March 24, 2021
Thony Dizon, Chemical Safety Campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition, urged authorities to crack down on these beauty product peddlers.
“To put a stop to this brazen breach of national and global effort to eliminate mercury-added skin whitening cosmetics to protect human health and the environment, we urge the authorities to crack down hard on the peddlers of these dangerous products who prey on individuals seeking lighter and flawless skin,” Dizon said.
In June, EcoWaste also released a similar advisory against some whitening creams with extremely high levels of mercury.
Its members purchased the items from retail stores in Binondo and Sta. Cruz.
READ: Green group slams persistent trade of mercury-laden skin whitening products in Philippines
