By Emegwoako C. Paschal
A lot of bleaching cosmetics use, according to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, could cause skin cancer.
This was mentioned in a statement made available to newsmen on Sunday, September 25th, in Abuja and signed by the agency’s media consultant, Mr. Olusayo Akintola.
According to the statement, the agency’s Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, issued the warning over the weekend during a brainstorming session of a two-day top management meeting in Lagos.
Adeyeye claimed that excessive use of cosmetics could even result in internal organ damage and even death. She expressed shock at the growing number of cosmetologists creating illicit chemicals with the intention of using them on their gullible clients.
Major SPA and beauty establishments in the nation’s affluent cities, are guilty of the harmful practice of creating creams for customers by combining chemicals with organic ingredients like pawpaw, carrot, and others.
Adeyeye claimed that the formulation was subsequently packaged, labeled, and sold online to customers. She also claimed that SPA owners had gone as far as to influence some clinics to participate in these nefarious activities.
She claimed that the field had developed to the point where clients were receiving treatments that contained both vitamin C infusion and glutathione injections.
Prof. Mojisola went on to say that the difficulty in enforcing the agency’s safety regulations on bleaching agents, SPAs, and other beauty salons stemmed from the fact that the products were made secretly and on the spot for individual customers.
She claimed that you hardly ever see the illegal products on the shelves of these facilities and issued a warning that the practice must end because anyone caught by the agency would face legal action and possible jail time.
Formulations containing Kojic Acid and Hydroquinone above their permitted substance limits as evidence that the majority of the products used in the mixture were smuggled into the country and unregistered.
She asserts that any product that contains substances in excess of their permitted limits runs the risk of being harmful. She also claims that the use of mercury in cosmetics is prohibited for safety reasons.
She emphasized that although the agency was not opposed to the use of cosmetics, they needed to be regulated and proven to be safe for human use.
Prof. Adeyeye pledged to uphold its mandate of protecting citizens by making sure goods produced domestically and imported into the nation underwent procedures that adhered to international best practices.
