Christmas watch list
It’s Christmas already, everywhere you go and everywhere you look. But you’d better watch out, because as Christmas Day draws closer and closer, more and more toxic and hazardous groups are being smuggled into the country.
A non-government environmental group commends a recent action by customs authorities to foil the smuggling of toxic and hazardous goods for Christmas
The EcoWaste Coalition backs the move by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) at the Manila International Container Port and Port of Manila to defer the release of 15 container vans loaded with imported plastic toys, firecrackers, and other goods from China and Hong Kong until after rigorous examination.
“We have to keep a more vigilant watch and conduct a thorough inspection of all vans to ensure the safety of the consuming public during the holidays,” says Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez.
Customs Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Group Filomeno Vicencio, Jr. describes their action “as part of the risk management measures of the Bureau.”
Roy Alvarez, president of EcoWaste Coalition, vows, “We support the more careful inspection of these Christmas shipments to ensure that dangerous goods such as toxic toys, substandard lights, and perilous firecrackers are not put up for sale on the local market.”
He adds, “The stringent scrutiny by our customs officers is needed to thwart any attempts by crooked traders to make profits from the sale of dangerous products that could jeopardize public health and safety.”
To protect our precious children from toxin-laden toys, the EcoWaste Coalition has urged the BOC to publish the brand names, photos, and other product specifications and the test results of toys that the Bureau had rejected due to high levels of lead and other harmful chemicals.
The BOC is tasked with examining toy shipments, obtaining samples of products from the lot, and sending the samples to an independent private laboratory for analysis. Toys that fail the tests are issued a warrant of seizure and detention.
Thony Dizon, coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition’s Project PROTECT (People Responding and Organizing Against Toxic Chemical Threats), pleads, “We urge the BOC to make these toxic toys known to the consumers through the BOC website and the popular media in order to inform and protect the public, especially the children.”
Dizon points out that toys containing lead and lead-based paint are dangerous because they expose children to this brain-damaging chemical through their common hand-to-mouth activity. So lead us not into harm. What’s really scary is that the world’s health experts warn there is no defined safe level for lead as they can be toxic to children even at low levels.
Now, here’s one explosive issue. As for firecrackers, the EcoWaste Coalition has solicited the help of BOC in strictly enforcing Section 6 of Republic Act 7183, which prohibits the importation of finished firecrackers and fireworks.
The pollution watchdog has also urged the BOC to strictly examine food imports such as the typical holiday fruits and delicacies to ensure that they do not contain hazardous levels of pesticide residues, and other contaminants.
This Christmas, eat, drink, and be wary!
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Meanwhile, do watch out, too, for those banned mercury-tainted cosmetics, which re-emerged in the metro retail outlets. Jiao Li and other skin whitening products are back with a vengeance.
Following a week of market surveillance conducted by EcoWaste’s AlerToxic Patrol from December 1 to 7, the EcoWaste Coalition revealed that 10 of the 28 skin whitening creams banned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this year have reappeared in some health and beauty shops and Chinese drugstores. These controversial items were tested by the FDA and subsequently banned under four separate circulars for exceeding the agency’s “allowable limit” for mercury of 1 part per million (ppm), posing “imminent danger or injury to the consuming public.”
Aileen Lucero of the EcoWaste Coalition’s Project PROTECT asserts, “We are very upset to find these health-damaging skin lightening creams on store shelves despite the repeated FDA threat of filing criminal charges against violators. Our latest test buys only underscore the need for firm and strict law enforcement in order to protect Filipino consumers from mercury exposure in personal care products.”
Where were these tainted beauty products found? The test buys were carried out in stores located in Binondo, Divisoria and Quiapo in Manila, Guadalupe Shopping Center and Makati Cinema Square in Makati City, Starmall Alabang in Muntinlupa City, and Baclaran Terminal Plaza Mall in Pasay City.
Among the items that the groups bought were Beauty Girl Ginseng and Green Cucumber, Beauty Girl Olive and Sheep Essence, Dr. Bai, Jiao Li 7-Days Eliminating Freckle AB Set, Jiao Li 10-Days Eliminating Freckle Day and Night Set, Jiaoli Huichusu, Jiaoli Huichusu Whitening Speckles Removal Cream, Jiaoli Miraculous Cream, JJJ Magic Spot Removing Cream, and S’Zitang.
Hong Kong authorities banned related Jiao Li products way back in 2007 after testing positive for mercury in the range of 3,800 to 13,000 ppm. The tolerable limit of mercury content in cosmetics in China is 1 ppm.
“An NGO Introduction to Mercury Pollution” published by the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) warns that cosmetics that peddle promises of whitening the skin or removing dark spots often contain cancer-causing mercury chloride and/or ammoniated mercury. According to IPEN, mercury-containing cosmetics will initially make the skin lighter by inhibiting the production of melanin but will later make the skin blotchy, causing the user to apply more in an effort to even out the color.
EcoWaste has also asked the authorities to look into three other brands of imported skin whitening creams to determine if they are mercury-free and safe to use: Forever Beauty 10 Day Special Cream and Pretty Model Whitening and Freckle Removing from Hong Kong and AB Miss Beauty Magic Cream from Taiwan.
White ain’t always right.
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