Warning Out on Unauthorized Skin Lightening Serum
(Product claims to provide skin with “perfect radiance”)
12 May 2025, Quezon City. While negative for mercury, an imported skin lightening serum being sold in the market may still pose serious health risks, a watchdog group against hazardous chemicals warned.
“Consumers, beware! A tiny bottle of Parley Whitening Serum that claims to give the skin perfect radiance is being sold without the required market authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA),” said Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition. “The product is also being marketed for use in combination with products flagged by the FDA for lacking certificates of product notification (CPN) and/or for containing mercury.”
“We advise consumers to steer clear of these products, which may endanger the health and safety of users, as well as other family members, especially the children,” added Lucero.
As part of its continuing advocacy to protect human health and the environment from mercury-added products, the group went to Pasay City last May 10 to look for skin lightening serum products.
In one budget mall, the group bought Parley Whitening Serum, which is imported from Pakistan and sold without a CPN issued by the FDA in violation of the FDA Act of 2009.
Interestingly, the said product is manufactured by the same company based in Lahore that makes Parley Beauty Cream and Parley Whitening Cream, as well as Parley Goldie Advance Beauty Cream, which the FDA banned in 2019 and 2021 at the request of the EcoWaste Coalition after it found the items adulterated with mercury.
Considering the negative effects of mercury on human health, the Food and Drug Authority of Rwanda, a country in East Africa, also recalled in 2022 specific batches of Parley Beauty Cream and Parley Goldie Advance Beauty Cream after they tested positive for mercury.
As per the X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) screening conducted by the EcoWaste Coalition, unauthorized Parley Whitening Serum was negative for mercury unlike the other Parley products analyzed by the group.
According to the usage instructions, the serum is mixed with any whitening cream and that continuous use can give skin its natural shine and beauty within 10 to 15 days without any side effects.
“If you will use Parley Whitening Serum with Parley Beauty Cream, you definitely will get more effective results within 5 to 7 days,” the packaging insert claims. It also suggests that a “blend of Parley Whitening Cream & Serum gives you outcomes at a cheap price… far better than others.”
The use of unauthorized cosmetic products “may pose serious health risks to consumers” as such goods have not undergone quality and safety assessment, the FDA warned.
“Potential hazards may come from ingredients that are not allowed to be part of a cosmetic product or from the contamination of heavy metals,” the FDA said. “The use of substandard and possibly adulterated cosmetic products may result in adverse reactions including, but not limited to, skin irritation, itchiness, anaphylactic shock and organ failure.”
The EcoWaste Coalition’s interest in analyzing skin lightening serum was triggered by the European Union’s recent safety alert against a product consisting of a cream and a serum, which the Swedish government rejected at the border.
According to the safety alert, the product poses a chemical risk for containing mercury, which can accumulate in the body and cause damage to the kidneys, brain, and nervous system, as well as affect reproduction and the health of an unborn child.
To protect human health and the environment from the harmful effects of mercury and other hazardous substances, the EcoWaste Coalition again urged consumers to rethink their consumption of skin lightening products and embrace instead their natural skin tone, emphasizing all skin colors are beautiful and that beauty, cleanliness and success are not defined by the whiteness of one’s skin.
“The easiest way to protect ourselves and our families from hazardous chemicals is not to use adulterated skin lightening products, reject colorism, and accept our skin tone as it is,” the group said.
Reference:
https://rwandafda.prod.risa.rw/index.php?eID=dumpFile&t=f&f=53102&token=8a8f05956392bb2c10c6aac8a56a6c186dac84achttps://ec.europa.eu/safety-gate-alerts/screen/webReport/alertDetail/10094293?lang=en
