 Hazardous chemical found in hair cream
By Qiu Quanlin (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-26 07:45
GUANGZHOU: Six brands of hair cream were found to contain the potentially cancerous toxic chemical lentine, the city's food and drug administrative authority said yesterday. The tainted brands include five manufactured in the southern province of Guangdong - two in Zhongshan city and the rest in the provincial capital of Guangzhou - and Zhangguang 101 based in Beijing, the provincial food and drug inspection and administration bureau said, having tested 81 batches of cosmetics made by 90 companies this year. The bureau tested the Guangdong-based hair cream and revealed their findings about Zhangguang 101 to its Beijing counterpart, the Xinhua News Agency said. "The six brands are found to have lentine contents between 0.09-0.23 percent, which is strictly banned in hair dye and cream," said Guo Yuhua, the Guangdong bureau's spokesman. Inhaling the highly toxic vapor of lentine, widely used as an industrial dye, could cause respiratory diseases, Guo said. "If the chemical is absorbed by the skin it may also cause damage to the kidney and liver," Guo said. Last week, five brands of hair dye, all made in Guangdong, were found to contain the toxic chemical lentine, Guo said. "We will strengthen inspection on cosmetics producers. Companies found to use banned chemical elements in products will be severely punished," he warned. Guo said local food and drug authorities, as well as industrial and commercial bureaus, are scanning hair cream products in the market. Those found to contain lentine would be pulled off the shelves, he said.
(China Daily 03/26/2009 page5) |
