(UPDATE) THE Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned the public against the use of seven "unauthorized" cosmetic products that were laced with mercury.
Different advisories were posted on the agency's website identifying Sandal Beauty Cream, Faiza Beauty Cream, Feique Herbal Extract Whitening Freckle Removing Cream, Feique Green Tea Whitening Nourishing Anti-Freckle Set, Feique Cucumber Whitening & Freckle-Eliminating Cream, Feique 2-in-1 Lemon Whitening Anti-Wrinkle Face Cream Set and the Feique Snail Liquid Whitening Anti-Freckle Set.
"Potential hazards may come from ingredients that are not allowed to be part of a cosmetic product or from the contamination of heavy metals. The use of substandard and possibly adulterated cosmetic products may result in adverse reactions including, but not limited to, skin irritation, itchiness, anaphylactic shock and organ failure," the FDA said.
The public was advised to check if a particular product has been flagged by the FDA by using the FDA Verification Portal https://verification.fda.gov.ph.
On Thursday, toxics watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition applauded the FDA for taking action against the seven products and called on e-commerce and online shopping platforms to stop listing FDA-banned products.
"We thank and laud the FDA for duly warning the public about the dangers posed by these unauthorized skin lightening products," the group's national coordinator Aileen Lucero said in a statement.
"The issuance of these advisories against unauthorized skin lightening products, we hope, will herald an all-out campaign led by the FDA and supported by national and local government agencies, the media, civil society and the citizenry to put a stop to the unlawful trade of dangerous cosmetics with mercury in both physical and online stores," Lucero said.
The group also alerted the FDA to the online sale of the cosmetic products by sellers operating in China and the Philippines, after it screened samples for mercury.
Using a portable X-ray fluorescence, the group detected mercury in all the seven products at levels exceeding the one part per million (ppm) limit for mercury as a heavy metal contaminant as set by the Asean Cosmetic Directive.
EcoWaste also said Sandal contained 12,580 ppm of mercury, Faiza had 7,110 ppm, and the Feique Herbal Extract Whitening Freckle Removing Cream had 11,320 ppm.
Other Feique products had "varying levels" of mercury, it said.
Based on their packaging information, Sandal and Faiza products were made in Pakistan, while Feique products were made in China.
The items had 2026 to 2027 expiry dates, and they were made after the 2000 global phase-out target for making mercury-added cosmetics under the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the group said.
The Pakistani products were also mentioned in a health warning issued by New York City, citing the presence of mercury.