It's 20 times over the carcinogen..."Cosmetics purchase warning."

Eye shadow with excess arsenic content / Supplied by Seoul Metropolitan Government

A number of harmful substances significantly exceeding the domestic standard were detected in some eyeshadows purchased from overseas e-commerce platforms such as China's AliExpress. In particular, heavy metals such as arsenic can harm health if absorbed into the skin, so care should be taken.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government today (10th) announced the results of inspections of 67 sanitary products, 62 cosmetics, 25 food containers, and 5 hiking suits sold at AliExpress, Temu, and Xuin.

First of all, harmful substances greatly exceeded the domestic standard in five eye and eyebrow cosmetics products sold by Ali. In eyeshadow, arsenic components were detected at 198.1㎍g/g, which exceeded the domestic standard by up to 19.8 times, and in some products, lead and arsenic exceeded the standard by 3.6 and 1.7 times, respectively.

Arsenic may accumulate in the human body and may not be excreted well, causing toxicity to the skin and other organs, including the nervous system. If even a small amount of arsenic is continuously exposed, there is a possibility of carcinogenic causes.

It was found that nickel exceeding the domestic standard was detected in mascara, eyebrow, and eyeliner products. The mascara exceeded 1.2 times, the eyebrow exceeded 1.8 times, and the eyeliner exceeded 2.1 times, respectively.

Courtesy of the Seoul Metropolitan Government

Nickel, which exceeded 1.4 times the domestic standard (0.5 μg/㎠/week), was also detected in zippers of functional clothing sold at Temu. Nickel is known to cause allergic reactions when it comes into contact with the skin, so if worn for a long time, it may cause chronic dermatitis.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will block access to six products that exceed or do not meet domestic standards by requesting related agencies such as the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and overseas online platform companies to stop selling them.

Reporter Park Sun-young of Digital News Team