Women warned against toxic artificial nail fad
THE EcoWaste Coalition has cautioned consumers especially women against purchase and use of an artificial nail kit with adhesive that contain toxic substances.
The watchdog group said the Romanian government recently banned and ordered the withdrawal from the market of Xucai, a brand of artificial nail set imported from China that comes with glue containing banned dibutyl phthalate (DBP).
The nail set is now being sold locally in the country at an affordable price.
According to the Romanian advisory as published in the European Union Rapid Alert System for dangerous non-food products, the DBP on the nail glue “may harm the health, causing possible damage to the reproductive system or the unborn child.”
“We remind consumers to be cautious when purchasing cosmetic products, especially items lacking market authorization such as artificial nails that are supplied with glue containing toxic DBP,” said Thony Dizon, Chemical Safety Campaigner of EcoWaste Coalition. “We appeal to manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers to only offer safe products that will not pose risks to human health and the environment.”
Aside from Xucai, the group also found that artificial nail sets bearing the names Children Manicure, Dudustrong, Elegant Touch, Fashion, Losnaglar, Nail Salons, Opoola, Rose, Skeyelinl and Yazimi also contain DBP on their adhesives. Each nail set was being sold for only P40.
Last March 12, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a public health warning against the purchase and use of the said unauthorized nail adhesive for artificial nails that lacks a valid certificate of product notification.
As per Advisory 2021-0541, “since the abovementioned unauthorized cosmetic product has not gone through the notification process of the FDA, the agency cannot assure their quality and safety. The use of such violative product may pose health risks to consumers.”
In another advisory, the FDA warned that the said nail adhesive, which lists DBP among its ingredients, “has the ability to cause allergic reactions.”
“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 advisory read.
