NAFDAC warns of dangers in skin bleaching creams
The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has warned Nigerians against using bleaching products on a regular basis since they represent a serious risk to their health.
Adeyeye gave a speech on Friday in Ibadan at the Association of Nigerian Health Journalists’ Media Sensitization Workshop on the Dangers of Bleaching Creams and Regulatory Control.
She claims that some of the negative effects of bleaching creams include cancer, harm to the body’s critical organs, skin irritation and allergies, burns and rashes, wrinkles, rapid aging of the skin, and slow wound healing.
She stated that NAFDAC has held a health journalists’ sensitization workshop in several regions of Nigeria, with the South-West edition being held in Ibadan.
According to her, NAFDAC “will continue to acknowledge the collaboration, involvement, and significant roles of journalists in spreading awareness of the risks associated with the continued use of bleaching creams to the general public through their different platforms.
In order to fulfill its responsibility of protecting the nation’s health, Adeyeye continued, NAFDAC has been conducting several raids on manufacturers, shops, and retail outlets selling bleaching cosmetics goods.
She said that NAFDAC will increase supervision on the country’s spas and ramp up education efforts about the risks associated with prolonged use of bleaching creams.
We found that many spa operators are unaware that combining different organic or inorganic materials to make cosmetics can have negative effects on the body.
She emphasized that Nigerians should always understand that being black is attractive and that they shouldn’t bleach their complexion to appease others.
The South-West Zone Director of NAFDAC, Ms. Roseline Ajayi, also emphasized the necessity for NAFDAC to strengthen Cosmetovigilance, a concept of safety monitoring of cosmetics goods.
She claims that this refers to the monitoring of unfavorable consequences after the sale of cosmetics.
Ajayi noted that the expansion of the global market for the items will be primarily driven by the rising acceptance of cosmetics products in both developed and emerging nations.
The necessity for cosmetovigilance services has increased due to the hazards linked with cosmetics products, she claimed.
Dr. Leonard Omokpariola, Director of Chemical Assessment and Research at NAFDAC, commented that extended use of cosmetics items, particularly when used or applied to the skin, could affect the human body, either topically or systemically.
The chemicals in some cosmetic goods, according to Omokpariola, “are endocrine disruptors,” and they may cause early puberty and poor sperm counts in males because of their high estrogenic activity.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the sensitization workshop included technical workshops, lectures, a presentation on the risks of prolonged usage of bleaching products, as well as questions and answers.
(NAN)
