Warning Out on Toxic Eyeliners Contaminated with Lead, Arsenic, and Cadmium
9 October 2025, Quezon City. As the nation observes the Consumer Welfare Month and as the world gets ready for the International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, the toxics watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition cautioned consumers against the application of eyeliners containing extremely high levels of lead.
Test buys conducted by the group confirmed the continued sale of the Hashmi Surma Asmar in Quiapo, Manila, where it is sold for P250 per set despite the absence of authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As per its label, the product was manufactured in July 2023 and will expire in June 2028. Hashmi eyeliners are also sold online at both Lazada and Shopee.
X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) screening conducted by the group revealed that the product contains over 100,000 parts per million (ppm) of lead despite being labeled “corresponds to Pb 0.00%” (Pb is the chemical symbol of lead from the Latin word plumbum).
The ASEAN Cosmetic Directive (ACD) prohibits lead as an ingredient in cosmetics and sets a 20 ppm limit for lead as a heavy metal contaminant in such products.
Aside from lead, the group also found Hashmi Surma Asmar contaminated with 6,410 ppm of arsenic and 309 ppm of cadmium, way beyond the ACD limit of 5 ppm for these heavy metals, which, like lead, are forbidden in cosmetic product formulations.
Arsenic, cadmium and lead are among the 10 chemicals or groups of chemicals of major public health concern according to the World Health Organization (WHO). These toxic metals are also included in the country’s Priority Chemicals List (PCL) as per the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The EcoWaste Coalition in 2014 alerted consumers and health product regulators about the sale of traditional kohl or surma eyeliners containing high amounts of lead. The group in 2018 drew attention to the toxicity of such eyeliners after three children in Australia suffered from lead poisoning due to the use of such products. Last year, the group again pushed for a ban on such eyeliners following the analysis conducted by the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP), which found 125,688 ppm of lead on a Hashmi eyeliner.
According to the US FDA, “products containing kohl and similar ingredients have been linked to lead poisoning, especially among children.”
“The risks associated with exposure to lead are especially serious for children. Among the effects associated with high levels of lead exposure are anemia, kidney problems, and neurological damage that may include seizures, coma, and death,” it explained.
“Even at relatively low levels, chronic exposure to lead may lead to learning and behavior problems,” it warned.
To protect the public, the children in particular, the EcoWaste Coalition repeated the following safety tips from the US FDA:
1. “Stop using the product immediately and be especially careful to protect children from further exposure.”
2. “Ask a healthcare provider to test children as well as pregnant or nursing women for lead poisoning if they have used the product.”
The group also urged the Philippine FDA to ban Hashmi eyeliners and to stop their further importation, promotion, and sale. ###
