The Investigation and Enforcement (I&E) directorate of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has uncovered a warehouse in trade fair market, Lagos, filled with banned imported soaps worth N1 billion.
Three trailer-load of imported crusader medicated soap and mekako soap totalling 4,000 cartons by 12 packs by 12 tablet soap were evacuated from the warehouse, while some suspects were arrested in connection with the case.
The director general, NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, who disclosed this, at a press briefing, on Friday, in Lagos, noted that the imported banned crusader soaps contain mercury which is of global concern, because of the established and documented health hazards it poses to human health and to the environment.
Recall that the Minamata convention on mercury, a World Health Organisation (WHO) project, underscores the gravity of the challenge posed by the use of mercury containing products. The Minamata Convention on Mercury is a global agreement, which was adopted in 2013 and entered into force on the 16th August 2017.
The Minamata convention bans the sale of mercury-added cosmetics, including skin lightening creams. After 2020, parties to the convention, including Nigeria which is a signatory to the convention, are required to have banned the manufacture, import and export of mercury containing cosmetics products.
Adeyeye averred that mercury in cosmetics is usually marketed as skin lighteners and anti-aging treatments, adding that it is readily absorbed through the skin into the blood stream and exerts debilitating effect on the vital internal organs of the body. “Mercury can damage the skin, brain, the kidney and the nervous system. Damage to the brain results in memory problem, depression, tingling in hands, feet or around the mouth.
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