WHENEVER cosmetics are available for sale, it is generally hoped that they will be free from toxins and therefore safe for all to use.
This also means that whenever news gets out that toxic substances have been found in cosmetic products, such information tends to go viral online very quickly.
It was said recently that controlled toxins were actually found in several cosmetic products; is this true?
VERDICT:
TRUE
In a statement on Monday (Sept 30), the Health Ministry said that it has detected scheduled poisons in five cosmetic products and as such they cannot be sold in Malaysia.
The five products are
> Karisma Aqua Birds Nest, which contains hydroquinone,
> Skin Revolution - PAP - Blemish Control Serum, which contains clindamycin
> Skin Revolution -PAP- Blemish Fade Cream, which contains metronidazole,
> Ufora Daily Treatment 10g, which contains betamethasone 17-valerate and
> Dnars Gold Debalen Cream (Night), which contains hydroquinone, tretinoin and betamethasone 17-valerate.
"Sellers and distributors of these cosmetics products need to stop sales and distribution immediately as it is against the Control of Drugs and Cosmetics Regulations 1984,” said the ministry.
It added that the scheduled poisons - hydroquinone, clindamycin, metronidazole, tretinoin and betamethasone 17-valerate - can only be used on the advice of medical health professionals as the unsupervised use of such products could lead to unwanted side effects.
"Hydroquinone causes redness on skin where it is applied on, discomfort, unwanted change of skin colour, skin hypersensitivity, while tretinoin causes redness of skin, discomfort, pain, peeling of the skin and light hypersensitivity," said the ministry.
"The use of clindamycin and metronidazole can have detrimental results on health and raise the risk of resistance, which in turn reduces its effectiveness to treat infections, while betamethasone 17-valerate results in skin thinning, irritation and acne,” it added.
