By Chito Chavez An environmental group on Friday expressed fear over the continued sale of artificial nails containing a harmful ingredient banned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In a recent visit to popular discount malls in Divisoria, Manila, the Quezon City-based EcoWaste Coalition bought artificial nail sets for P25 per set per wholesale price. What sowed deep concern is that the fashion accessories comes with a small glue tube which were “made in China” as written on the packaging. Upon examination, the glue that is used to fasten the artificial nail (also known as fake or fashion nails) to the natural nail surface was found to contain dibutyl phthalate (DBP) as indicated on the ingredients’ list. DBP is a banned ingredient as per Annex II, Part I of the ASEAN Cosmetic Directive, which provides a list of various substances that “must not form part of the composition of cosmetic products.” Among these artificial nail sets with DBP-containing adhesive were Dudustrong, Elegant Touch, Losnaglar, Opoola, Skeyelinl, and Xucai. “The sale of cosmetic products containing banned ingredients such as DBP continues to proliferate, especially in the informal market where adulterated, imitation and unregistered goods are sold cheap,” said Thony Dizon, Chemical Safety Campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition. “To protect unassuming consumers from health-damaging cosmetics, we call for and support intensified law enforcement action to rid the marketplace of such poison products,” he added. The substance “has the ability to cause allergic reactions,” according to FDA Advisory 2015-006 warning consumers against unnotified adhesive containing DBP. The advisory noted there were previous cases where allergic response to DBP was found to be severe adding that “allergic reactions can induce a state of hypersensitivity in the immune system.” “It can cause the immune system to respond to chemical exposures with immunological reactions that are harmful, varying from hives to life threatening responses such as anaphylactic shock, where low blood pressure and breathing difficulties can result in death,” the FDA further explained.