The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (MFDA) issued a public warning against three cosmetic products on Sunday. The authorities claimed that the beauty care products contain mercury and lead at dangerously high levels compared to permissible levels, raising health concerns. The declared products are: Goree Beauty Cream, Face Fresh Gold (Beauty Cream + Beauty Serum), and Golden Star Beauty Cream. Here’s a closer look at the MFDA’s urgent warning against the cosmetic products with heavy metals.
MFDA warns of the risk of kidney failure and damage to the nervous system
MFDA flagged the aforementioned cosmetic products, citing that prolonged use may lead to kidney failure, as well as damage to the nervous system and skin, as per an NDTV Marathi report. The drug regulator has asked beauty care product users to immediately stop the purchase, consumption, and distribution. Moreover, the personal care items did not mention the mandatory information such as the manufacturer’s name and address, batch number, manufacturing date, and expiry date. As a result of the failed laboratory tests, MFDA has asked the retailers, distributors, and the e-commerce middlemen to halt the sale and stocking of the warned products. The authorities have asked the businesses to submit an official report to the FDA on the products recalled from the market and keeping those in their possession. Furthermore, MFDA issued an appeal to the citizens to buy the products from authorized sellers and check that the packaging possesses all the mandatory details.
Chirag Barjatya shared an X post about the products and the damages
Social media influencer and entrepreneur Chirag Barjatya shared a post on X, detailing the damages caused to eighteen women from Nagpur due to consumption of the flagged products. “18 women in Nagpur, Maharashtra complained about kidney problems to their doctors in the span of two years. Doctors saw a pattern and checked that all of them were using this pakistani cream sold by many Instagram pages and meesho,” he penned in a July 5 post. “FDA Maharashtra took the cream samples. Sent to lab and found out that it has 752x mercury present in it above the legal limits. yes, 752x. Yes, This mercury (poison in this case) can make you goree in 15 days because it blocks the cell that makes melanin. But in reality thats a chemical damage that looks like fairness. And guess what, our skin absorbs mercury and keeps getting deposited in kidney all the time,” he added, urging the consumers to stop the use. Furthermore, he shared the concern that even if you as an individual are not using the harmful beauty care products, ask around and advise them to throw away.
Expert voices concern about hygiene, chemicals, and climatic conditions
“The Indian beauty industry is growing fast, and this has shown that there are big problems with safety and how things are made. People think that the things they buy from stores or online are safe. When these things are tested, it is clear that they are not,” Dr. Snigdha Sehgal, Consultant Physician, COA Biohacking Clinic, Ruby Hall Clinic in Pune, said in an exclusive interview with ETimes. The heavy metal contents found in cosmetic products cause great concern for health. Stating significant information, the professional continued, “An important study by the Centre for Science and Environment found that many everyday products have high levels of bad things like heavy metals in them. When they tested some skin creams, they found that 44% of them had mercury in them, which is a bad thing that can hurt people. The amount of mercury was up to 1.97 parts per million, which is much higher than what is considered safe and can cause big problems like kidney damage,” before adding, “They also found chromium, which is known to cause cancer in 50% of the lipsticks they tested, and nickel in many of them, which can cause problems for people who use them.” “The Indian beauty industry has problems with more than just heavy metals. When independent labs test products, they often find big problems. One of the problems is that many products have bad things like bacteria, yeast, and mold in them. This happens because companies do not make sure their products are clean and safe. When people use these products, they can get skin infections and other problems,” the expert voiced about the lack of hygiene while making the products, leading to health issues. “Also, many companies do not test their products to see how they will work in India’s humid weather. This means that the good things in their products can break down and become bad for people’s skin. The Indian beauty industry has a problem with products that are not safe for people to use,” the Doctor expressed. “The Indian beauty industry is a problem for people’s health because many products have bad things in them that can hurt people. The Centre for Science and Environment study and other tests have shown that the Indian beauty industry needs to do a job of keeping people safe,” Dr. Seghal stated how the Indian beauty industry needs to improve the quality control.
