China, Taiwan - Glutathione Skin whitening in Philippines high poisonous Mercury content - CANCER

Anti-toxics group warns vs 5 more skin whiteners with poisonous mercury

At least five more skin whiteners have been found with toxic levels of mercury, an ecological group said over the weekend.

 The EcoWaste Coalition said this is despite the Food and Drug Administration's recent expansion of its black list of cosmetics products to 71.

 "We have promptly alerted the FDA about our findings urging the agency to take immediate action to warn consumers and decisively halt the illegal sale of these cosmetics to protect the public health and the environment," said campaigner Aileen Lucero.

Ecowaste Coalition

The group said it found five products to have "outrageous" amounts of mercury, with one having up to 26,700 parts per million (ppm) - way above the government's limit of 1 ppm.

 Earlier, the FDA placed up to 71 cosmetic products on its black list after finding them to have highly toxic levels of mercury.

See the FDA Lists of Products with high contents of poisonous mercury http://www.fda.gov.ph/Advisory/DOH-FDA2012-018.pdf

 According to the group, it bought the new samples with prices ranging from P70 to P250 last Dec. 8 from Chinese medicine stores, health and beauty shops in Baclaran, Cubao and Guadalupe.

 It said the tainted products included:

 - "Natural Orange Whitening and Anti-Aging Package" claiming "all-natural botanical formula" tested with the highest level of mercury at 22,300 ppm for the day cream, and 26,700 ppm for the night cream. The label purportedly shows GLDJB (Harbin) Cosmetics Co., Ltd. as the manufacturer, but failed to mention the country of manufacture.

 - "Spring Return Ginseng and Pearl Natural Pure Plants Whitening Cream," allegedly from New York, USA, had 10,900 ppm of mercury in its night cream. The packaging provided no details about the manufacturer.

 - "TVC Spot Remover," reportedly from Mexico but "made in PRC" had 10,100 ppm of mercury. No information about the manufacturer is given on the label.

 - "Yudantang Green Olive and Papaya Natural Essence 6 Days Specific Eliminating Freckle Whitening Sun Block Cream," supposedly from Taiwan, had 8,391 ppm of mercury in the night cream.

 - "Fruit & Lovely Quickacting Whitener & Speckle Remover Package," which has zero information about its manufacturer, had 192 ppm for the day cream and 628 ppm for the night cream.  

EcoWaste Coalition warned consumers against being directly exposed to cosmetic products containing more than 1 ppm of mercury run the risk of possible toxicity.

 It cited the FDA's health advisory indicating "there have been cases of adverse health effects brought about by highly toxic mercury in cosmetic products, such as kidney damage, skin rashes, skin discoloration and scarring." (http://is.gd/02TTDz)

GMA News 

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Philippines improves 24 points standing in corruption perception index 2012

The Philippines improved its standing in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index this year by moving up 24 points, from 129th place in 2011 to 105th.

Results released yesterday showed that with a score of 34, the Philippines is tied with Algeria, Armenia, Bolivia, Gambia, Kosovo, Mali, and Mexico. Transparency International said it has updated the methodology for the CPI, which is now presented on a scale from zero for highly corrupt to 100 that means very clean.

Records showed that the Philippines also jumped five notches in 2011 at 129th place from 134th in 2010, the year when President Aquino was elected into office.

The 2012 CPI said Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand were tied at the top with a score of 90, followed by Sweden with 88, Singapore with 87, Switzerland with 86, Australia with 85, and Norway also with 85.The United States ranked 19th with 73 points while China ranked 82nd with a score of 39 among 176 countries and territories covered by the corruption perception survey, now on its 18th year.

Tied at the bottom three of this year's list, posting similar scores of only eight CPI points, were Afghanistan, North Korea, and Somalia. Transparency International said the survey is anchored on perceived levels of public sector corruption, with the index drawing on 13 surveys covering expert assessments and surveys of business people.

The CPI is the leading indicator of public sector corruption, offering a yearly snapshot of the relative degree of the corruption problem by ranking countries worldwide.

In the 2012 CPI, the group said Denmark, Finland and New Zealand tie for first because of strong access to information systems and rules governing the behaviour of those in public positions.

Transparency International said Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia once again are in the bottom of the index because of the countries' lack of accountable leadership and effective public institutions that underscore the need to take a much stronger stance against corruption.

Underperformers in the CPI 2012 also include the Eurozone countries most affected by the financial and economic crisis.

Transparency International said it has consistently warned Europe to address corruption risks in the public sector to tackle the financial crisis, calling for strengthened efforts to corruption-proof public institutions.

"Corruption is the world's most talked about problem," stated Cobus de Swardt, managing director of Transparency International.

"The world's leading economies should lead by example, making sure that their institutions are fully transparent and their leaders are held accountable," he added. "This is crucial since their institutions play a significant role in preventing corruption from flourishing globally," De Swardt said. (http://is.gd/GK5BDD)

The Philippine Star

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Philippine Inflation of November 2012 slips down 2.8% - Commodity prices increased?

Slower increase in prices was observed in major food items such as fish (5.9% in November 2012 from 6.0% in October 2012), milk, cheese, and eggs (3.3% from 3.4%), and fruits (4.9% from 5.2%). This was also coupled with the decline in prices of vegetables (-5.3% from -0.1%), and oils and fats (-4.9% from -4.5%).

November Inflation Eases To 2.8%

Ample supply of food and fishery products and lower prices of domestic petroleum have helped slow down the inflation rate to 2.8 percent in November compared to 3.1 percent in the previous month.

"The abundant supply of agriculture and fishery products in November 2012 resulted in greater annual reductions in the prices of various food items compared to the previous month," said NEDA Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Rolando Tungpalan.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, meanwhile, said that the low consumer prices in November suggest its "current policy stance is still appropriate."

"[Slowing inflation] and improved domestic demand conditions support the view that policy settings remain appropriate for the time being," Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Amando Tetangco said in a text message.

"That said, we continue to monitor the impact of the cumulative 100 basis point cut [in interest rates] on credit demand and liquidity growth to see if these are still in line with domestic absorptive capacity," Mr. Tetangco added, referring to the full percentage point of cuts introduced under the central bank's easing drive.

Overnight interest rates are now at a record low of 3.50% for borrowing and 5.50% for lending.

The central bank will hold its last policy review meeting for the year on Dec. 13.

The November inflation print was the slowest since June's 2.8%.

The BSP projected the consumer price index to rise 2.7%-3.6% in November from a year earlier.

November CPI was up 0.1%, after it fell 0.1% in October.  Inflation averaged 3.2% in the January-November period, still within the central bank's 3%-5% full-year target.

Slower increase in prices was observed in major food items such as fish (5.9% in November 2012 from 6.0% in October 2012), milk, cheese, and eggs (3.3% from 3.4%), and fruits (4.9% from 5.2%). This was also coupled with the decline in prices of vegetables (-5.3% from -0.1%), and oils and fats (-4.9% from -4.5%).

"Slower increases of prices in electricity, gas and other fuels were also observed in November 2012 due to the contraction in Manila Electric Company's (MERALCO) generation charge and the lower prices of kerosene and diesel," said Tungpalan.

MERALCO's generation charge in November 2012 was lower by 2.7 percent (P0.16/kWh) against the same period in 2011 due to lower generation costs from suppliers.

Prices of kerosene also slowed down, falling by 2.5 percent in November 2012 from an increase of 3.5 percent in October 2012. Furthermore, diesel prices fell by 4.6 percent from 3.1 percent.

"These were due to the trimmed trading price of Dubai crude in the international market, which contracted by 1.6 percent from a 4.8 percent growth in October 2012," said Tungpalan.

November 2012's record for consumer prices brings the year-to-date headline inflation to a stable rate of 3.2 percent.

"The average inflation from January to November 2012 remains within the Development Budget Coordination Committee's target range of 3.0 to 5.0 percent for 2012," Tungpalan said.

Core inflation likewise decelerated for the month of November 2012 to 3.4 percent against 3.6 percent recorded in the previous month or 4.5 percent in November 2011.

"The lower core inflation implies an easing of demand pressures on consumer prices. With the continued benign price increases for the period, we are expecting that inflation should be manageable for the rest of the year," the NEDA official said.

Inflation rate in Metro Manila also eased to 2.6 percent in November 2012 from 2.9 percent in October 2012. Similarly, the inflation rate outside the capital slowed in November 2012 to 2.9 percent from the previous month's 3.3 percent.

From January to November 2012, the year-to-date inflation in Metro Manila stood at 2.9 percent, slower than the average movement of prices outside Metro Manila, which is at 3.3 percent. (EHL)  (http://is.gd/4UYRCn)

Manila Bulletin 

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