Do you use these wet wipes to clean after your babies? The EcoWaste Coalition, a watchdog on the use of harmful chemicals in everyday products, bared Tuesday, March 17, that unsafe and non-compliant brands of wet wipes still proliferate the local market.
The group said that they obtained eight brands of baby or wet wipes containing the banned ingredients methylisothiazolinone and methylchloroisothiazolinone during test buys conducted at retail establishments in the cities of Pasay and Valenzuela on March 10 and 14.
The two ingredients are prohibited in leave-on cosmetic products, including wet wipes, EcoWaste Coalition said.
“We caution all mothers, nannies and others who provide child care not to use wet wipes containing methylisothiazolinone and methylchloroisothiazolinone, which can cause contact dermatitis or CD,” said Thony Dizon, Chemical Safety Campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition.
The group had already written to the concerned retail outlets to stop the sale of non-compliant baby wipes. It had also reported the matter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
According to the World Allergy Organization (WHO), CD “is a skin disorder characterized by redness, itching and vesiculation (that) results from contact with environmental substances that elicit an allergic and/or irritant response.”
The FDA through Circular No. 2017-006, which it reiterated through Advisory No. 2018-034, prohibited methylisothiazolinone in leave-on cosmetic products and set a grace period of until August 31, 2018 to assist the industry to comply.
More than two years after the said deadline, the EcoWaste Coalition still managed to buy the following non-compliant imported wipes from local retailers: Baby Tender Baby Wipes, Dong Bang Baby Tender Baby Wipes, Dong Bang Baby Tender Baby Wipes (with Chinese charaters), Duo Yang Cool Summer Baby Skincare Wipes, Duo Yang Sky Freedom Baby Skincare Wipes, Floral Baby Wipes, LovedCare Baby Tender Baby Wipes, and MRP Tong Bang Baby Tender Baby Wipes.
The products cost P15.75 to P39.75 per pack.
“Manufacturers of wet wipes with banned ingredients and their local importers and distributors should stop marketing these cheap but unsafe products,” Dizon added.