Toxic lipsticks still sold in Manila

An environmental advocacy group has warned that despite repeated alerts from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Philippines, certain brands of lipstick containing “atrocious” levels of toxic ingredients are still being sold in Manila.

The EcoWaste Coalition said in a statement yesterday that it was able to buy 35 types of lipstick—all with dangerously high levels of lead—in stalls in Quiapo and Divisoria despite the ban imposed by the FDA on some of these products.

“The booming sale of illegal cosmetics is very alarming with the culprits enjoying virtual impunity. This is frightening as some of these products are laden with dangerous chemicals posing serious health and environmental hazards,” said Aileen Lucero, EcoWaste spokesperson.

The group made the test buys last week after it learned that the FDA issued a new advisory in January banning the sale of unregistered brands of cosmetic products found to have levels of lead way over the 20 parts per million (ppm) limit stated in the Asean Cosmetics Directive.

These brands also do not contain essential information such as product ingredients, manufacturer, batch number, instructions for use, safety precautions and the country of manufacturer and importer. The FDA outlaws their sale.

The unregistered brands banned last month were Baolishi Lipstick #20, Miss Beauty New Formulized Moisture Lipstick, Monaliza Series Lipstick #5, and Miss Beauty BB Spray UV Resistance Whitening Spray.

The EcoWaste said it was still able to buy the Baolishi and Monaliza lipsticks in Quiapo and Divisoria despite the FDA ban and its order for government agencies and local governments to seize these products.

On top of this, the group said that 33 other brands bought from stalls in Quiapo and Divisoria also contained alarming amounts of lead ranging from 2,278 to 17,100 ppm—more than 850 times the limit set by the Asean Cosmetics Directive.

These brands included Aili Kiss, Chanleevi, Daiyasi, Ily, Lidanxiu, Meiya, Miss Beauty, Miss Merry, Pure, Yan Di and one that says only “Lipstick.” These cost between P12.50 and P50, the group added.

“We verified through the FDA’s website if the lipsticks had the required market authorization and found out that most are not notified with the agency and therefore not authorized to be in the market,” Lucero said.

She emphasized the need for the strict regulation of cosmetics as these could easily be absorbed or ingested into the body, thus spreading the toxic elements in the bloodstream.

The FDA has warned that the chronic ingestion of lead in lipsticks may lead to problems in the nervous and gastrointestinal systems, heart, blood and kidney. Specifically, symptoms of lead poisoning include high blood pressure, joint pain, poor memory and concentration problems.