Over 100 banned cosmetics on sale

By Carol Kasujja  

That skin product you are wearing could be your doom. Sunday Vision has reliably learnt that many of the body lotions and creams sold openly in Uganda, contain dangerous chemicals that can cause mental illness, cancer, allergies, kidney failure and eventual death.

At least 120 beauty products in this category are banned for health reasons, but dubious traders smuggle them into the country and they are sold allover the place, according to information from the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS).

The dangerous chemicals in the products include mercury and hydroquinone. “People, especially ladies, spend half of their income on these beauty products to boost their self-esteem and also go with the trend.

But these products were long declared unfit for use because the ingredients the manufacturers add, like mercury and hydroquinone, are absorbed into the body through the skin and enter body organs, including the brain.

“This can cause madness and also affect someone’s thinking capacity,” says Deusdedit Mubangizi, the UNBS testing manager. Advertisers are using edited photographs of celebrities to lie to the public that if they apply the same products, they will also achieve the same looks.

Mubangizi says they banned these products, but people smuggle them into the country and because they cannot reach the entire country, some individuals take advantage of this to sell these dangerous products.

Signs to look out for

If you buy a lotion and on the expiry date they have put a sticker or stamp, do not pay for it. Always check the expiry and manufacturing date because there are products that do not have a long shelf-life. So, sellers try to hide it by placing a price tag on the bottle.

If the product does not have a country of origin and instructions on the label, chances are that it is has an issue with it. All products are supposed to show the ingredients they contain because some people are allergic to some of them.

Harmful ingredients to look out for include crude and refined coal tars, methotrexate, Benzidine, Zoxazolamine, Aminocaproic acid, antibiotics, barium, benzene, brucine, chlorine, dioxane, morpholine and chloroform. Do not buy any cream and lotion that claims to cure skin diseases like ring worms, rashes and dandruff.

Fake lotions often have a strong smell or a not-so-pleasant smell. Sometimes, even the place where a product is sold is an indication that it could be one of the banned products.

Dangers of these substances

After a study on these products, UNBS found out that they are not fit for human use because they can result into contraction of diseases like skin cancer, kidney failure and allergies.

Steps UNBS has taken

Mubangizi says during their survey, they found out that the dangerous cosmetics are brought into the country and offloaded mostly in the night by importers.

He says they have a market surveillance team which keeps monitoring every entry point to see that they curb the practice. “We have promotional activities.

We certify those who meet our standards. We even train them on how to store such products. If a cosmetic shop does not have a certificate from UNBS, it should be closed. Buyers should always ask if the seller has a UNBS certificate before they purchase the products they want.

“We appeal to the public to be vigilant and where necessary, not to support those who sell these banned products,” Mubangizi says. Mubangizi warns that anyone found selling a banned product will be imprisoned or fined.

Skin Lightening creams with hydroquinone. Click to view