Toxic Watchdog Group Commends FDA for Issuing Public Health Warning Against Goree 24K Gold Beauty Cream

Wazzup Pilipinas!?



Toxic watchdog group BAN Toxics lauds the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Philippines for issuing the FDA Advisory No. 2023-2392 – a Public Health Warning against the purchase and use of unauthorized Goree 24K Gold Beauty Cream on November 21, 2023.

On October 13, BAN Toxics alerted consumers to the sale of skin-lightening products (SLPs) containing toxic mercury, a known hazard to human health. The group purchased a “new” brand of Pakistan-made SLPs sold for P200 in the local market. Monitoring online shopping platforms like Shoppe and Lazada, the products were found priced between P170 to P200.

Using a SCIAPS X-200 HH XRF Analyzer, the Goree 24k Gold Beauty Cream 3-in-1 Formula was discovered to contain toxic mercury, measuring up to 41,500 parts per million (ppm). This exceeds the allowable limit of 1 ppm set by the FDA and outlined in the ASEAN Cosmetic Directive.

The Minamata Convention on Mercury prohibits the manufacture, import, or export of specific mercury-added products after 2020. According to this regulation, all cosmetic products must contain mercury concentrations of less than 1 part per million (ppm).

“We commend the FDA for issuing public health warnings against unnotified cosmetic products such as Goree Gold 24K Beauty Cream to prevent potential hazards from prohibited ingredients such as toxic mercury,” said Thony Dizon, Toxics Campaigner, BAN Toxics.

“As part of our Safe Cosmetics campaign, we’re committed to monitoring and reporting the unauthorized sale of unregistered and unnotified Skin Lightening Products containing mercury in both on-site and online markets. Our goal is to protect human health and the environment from mercury exposure,” he added.

Mercury is among the World Health Organization’s top ten chemicals of major public health concern. Mercury lightens the skin by suppressing the production of melanin and can also remove age spots, freckles, blemishes, and wrinkles. However, its use can lead to rashes, skin discoloration, and blotching. Mercury can enter the body through absorption, inhalation, or ingestion.

A documented case study details a 54-year-old woman who developed dementia, epilepsy, and peripheral polyneuropathy at 49 after consistently using skin-lightening cream for six years. Upon promptly ceasing exposure, her blood and urine mercury levels reverted to levels typically found in individuals not exposed to such products.

Mercury from soaps, creams, and beauty products ultimately reaches our waterways. Once in the environment, it transforms into a harmful substance called methylmercury that enters our food chain, notably through fish consumption. Pregnant women who consume methylmercury-contaminated fish can pass it on to their babies, potentially causing developmental issues.

Republic Act 9711, or the Food and Drug Administration Act of 2009, prohibits the manufacture, importation, distribution, and sale, among other things, of health products, including cosmetics, without the proper authorization from the agency.

BAN Toxics has been active in conducting market monitoring and test-buys of different skin-lightening products sold in the market or online to warn the public about the unlawful selling of skin-lightening products (SLPs) containing toxic mercury, a dangerous poison banned in cosmetic product formulations.

“Government regulators must collaborate on joint post-marketing surveillance and enforcement actions to curb the manufacture, trade, and sale of unnotified and unregistered cosmetic products in the country,” the group added.

OFFICIAL STATEMENT ON THE TRANSPAC ISSUE

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The Department of Education (DepEd) has started hauling various learning resources from Transpac Logistics warehouses for distribution to public schools nationwide.

For context, the services of Transpac Logistics were procured by DepEd back in 2021. Under its contract, Transpac shall provide DepEd with logistics, warehousing, and tagging services from October 8, 2021 to June 30, 2022.

Due to the failure of Transpac to deliver the goods completely and on time, several discussions were held between the parties for the fulfillment of Transpac’s obligations.

Since the present Administration assumed office, continuous efforts were made to either compel delivery of the goods as required by contract, or for DepEd to be allowed to pull out and haul the learning resources from the warehouses — to no avail. Thus, in the exercise of diligence, and in the interest of recovering the goods by all means necessary, DepEd was constrained to resort to legal remedies.

On August 30, 2023, prompted by the lack of any concrete resolution to the issue, the DepEd partially terminated its contract with Transpac, in accordance with RA 9184, otherwise known as the Procurement Law.

On November 22, 2023, the DepEd also instituted legal proceedings, before the Regional Trial Court, to recover the goods that are still in Transpac’s possession.

Sometime in the first week of December 2023, the DepEd was in receipt of a letter from Transpac suddenly informing DepEd that it may now haul the goods stored in its warehouses.

Therefore, our Regional and Division offices have immediately started hauling the goods. The DepEd aims to completely haul and deliver the goods to our public schools in the next few weeks.

Finally, we would like to emphasize that this is not a simple case of unpaid warehouse fees as has been inaccurately framed by some outfits. Payment to providers may only be done upon the fulfillment of obligations and corresponding submission of complete documentation as required by accounting, auditing and other pertinent rules and regulations for the disbursement of funds.

We appeal to the public to remain vigilant against the spread of false and misleading information.

DepEd remains committed to safeguarding the public interest, so that our learners and stakeholders will not be shortchanged of the education services they deserve.

Thank you.

More intense typhoons to come this century, UP study warns

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Warming of sea surface in Asia-Pacific. Redder areas indicate a higher increase in temperature. (Photo credit: Delfino, R.J. et al. 

Response of damaging Philippines tropical cyclones to a warming climate using the pseudo global warming approach. Clim Dyn 61 (2023): p. 3506.)

The Philippines should brace for potentially stronger and more destructive typhoons due to climate change, warns new research coming out of the University of the Philippines - Diliman College of Science’s Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology (UPD-CS IESM).

Dr. Rafaela Jane Delfino and Dr. Gerry Bagtasa, together with colleagues from the UK, found that future Philippine typhoons may have a higher cyclone damage potential (CDP) than today’s typhoons. 

CDP is a metric that takes into account several factors, including the size of the cyclone and the speed of its winds. The scientists gathered data from recent typhoons and projected these onto likely future climate scenarios to figure out future CDPs. The greater the CDP, the greater potential damage costs, particularly from winds.

Specifically, the researchers looked at three of the most deadly super typhoons in recent history: 

Haiyan (which happened in 2013 and was locally named Yolanda); Bopha (2012, Pablo); and Mangkhut (2018, Ompong). They then hypothesized the potential damage from these typhoons if they happened in a future where the climate is forecast to be warmer and more humid, based on multiple climate projections for the years 2070 to 2099. 

Moreover, by employing various projections and considering several factors such as atmospheric temperature, sea surface temperature, pressure, and relative humidity, the researchers were able to conclusively link climate change to the intensification of the three Philippine typhoons mentioned in the study. They also found that future typhoons may be expected to be stronger and more damaging. Like spinning tops, the potentially faster winds and slower movement of these future typhoons could lead to them lingering longer over land and therefore causing more damage.

For example, under one forecast model, the CDP from a future cyclone similar to Super Typhoon Yolanda was seen to be as much as 37% greater than the damage experienced in 2013. In another simulation, Super Typhoon Ompong, which had a simulated maximum wind speed of 205 kph under present climate conditions, could potentially hit 270 kph under future climate conditions. The projections also showed an increase of as much as 50 kph in the maximum wind speeds of future typhoons like Yolanda and Pablo.

“Based on our simulations, it is found that the most damaging tropical cyclones like Haiyan, Bopha, and Mangkhut will have higher wind-related damage potential in the future,” the researchers concluded in their paper. 

“Tropical cyclones of such intensity and damage potential in the future will have serious implications with the increasing exposure and vulnerability in the Philippines,” they added, calling for further research using other models and typhoon data sets.

 References:

Delfino, R.J., Vidale, P.L., Bagtasa, G. et al. Response of damaging Philippines tropical cyclones to a warming climate using the pseudo global warming approach. Clim Dyn 61, 3499–3523 (2023). 

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-023-06742-6