FDA-banned cosmetic products still available in PH, warns group

Although the summer heat may prompt you to reach out for a moisturizer or other skin-pampering products, be sure to read the label before you slather them on.

A toxics watchdog group said on Saturday that 14 cosmetic products sold in the local market contain the banned preservative, isobutylparaben.

This was based on the retail market monitoring conducted by the EcoWaste Coalition earlier this week to help the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) enforce the regulation banning isobutylparaben and four other parabens in cosmetics.

“We found 14 more products listing isobutylparaben as [an] ingredient in clear defiance of the FDA advisory,” Thony Dizon, coordinator of EcoWaste Project Protect, said in a statement.

Parabens, which are commonly used as a preservative in cosmetics, among other products, mimic estrogen and may cause endocrine disruption and reproductive toxicity.

Of the 14 products, 10 were imported from the United Kingdom, he said. In 2014, the European Union added five parabens to the list of substances prohibited in cosmetics due to the lack of data necessary for their safety assessment.

“If these 10 products would be illegal to sell in Europe, why are they being sold in the Philippines?” Dizon asked.

The 10 items from UK-based Beauty Formulas were Aloe Fresh Replenishing Moisture Cream, Avocado Oil Treatment Wax, Cocoa Butter Body Conditioning Cream, Deep Action Pore Cleanser, Deep Penetrating Softening Foot Lotion, Honey and Almond Facial Scrub, Honey Treatment Wax, Oil and Shine Control Moisturizer, On the Spot Treatment, and Regenerating Hand Cream. The other products were Caronia Hand and Foot Care Nourishing Creme (Green Tea Scent), Ocean Potion Extreme Tanning Xcelerator Spray Gel, Ocean Potion Protect and Nourish Sea Plant Botanicals (Babies and Sensitive), and Ocean Potion Protect and Nourish Sea Plant Botanicals (Kids).