By Kim Sung-jin
Staff Reporter


The Consumer Protection Board (CPB) said Tuesday that it has detected unwholesome synthetic preservatives in seven out of 10 commercial natural skin care products that are supposed to be preservative-free.

The consumer protection organization also discovered fungus or germs that are prone to cause aggravated skin troubles or skin allergies in some natural skin care products and commercial cosmetics products.

The CPB conducted chemical analyses on 10 natural skin care products that are advertised on the Internet to contain no synthetic preservatives, or antiseptics, and tested 60 cosmetics products, including lotions and lipsticks, to find out whether the products are contaminated with unwholesome microorganisms.

Natural skin care products refer to products that contain 100 percent naturally derived ingredients extracted from pure plant and mineral resources with no synthetic preservatives.

However, those preservative-free natural skin care products are more susceptible to yeast, bacterial and fungal growth, contaminants that can be dangerous to consumers’ skin.

The chemical analyses found that seven out of 10 natural skin care products contained controversial synthetic chemicals, such as methyl paraben, phenoxyethanol and sorbic acid, that are used as preservatives.

Of the seven products, four did not have any indication of the synthetic preservatives on the ingredients list on the label even though they contained a massive amount of preservatives with concentration levels of the antiseptic ranging from 630-9,660 parts per million (ppm).

The CPB said the remaining three natural skin care products contained minute amount of preservatives with concentration levels ranging from 40-150 ppm, but assumed that the preservatives were not intentionally added by the cosmetics makers but originally contained in raw ingredients.

Of the controversial preservatives, methylparaben is one of most widely used preservatives in the cosmetic, body care and pharmaceutical products. It is a toxic petrochemical preservative and dangerously carcinogenic, reportedly known as causing breast cancer tumors.

Phenoxyethanol, used as bactericide, insect repellent and topical antiseptic, is known to affect nerves and blood vessels, causing spasms. Sorbic acid, or sorbate, is also a toxic preservative.

The agency said the government should closely monitor whether the cosmetics firms have actually maintained the amount of preservative content in mass-produced commercial products and instantly draw up strict guidelines and criteria for adding preservatives to skin care products.

In addition, the CPB discovered germs greater than the level approved by the government in one lotion product and one baby cream product.

The CPB plans to recommend that the Korea Food and Drug Administration shore up its monitoring activities on commercial skin care and cosmetics products and come up with strict criteria on the maximum amount of preservatives that can be added to the skin care products.

``Consumers should close the cap of cosmetics products right after use and avoid placing the products in areas exposed to direct sunlight or moist places. We suggest consumers keep cosmetics in refrigerators and wash their hands before using the product or use a scoop to avoid contamination of the products via direct contact with germs on the hand,’’ said the CPB in a statement.

sjkim@koreatimes.co.kr