State body issues warning of lead and arsenic in counterfeit cosmetics

The State’s medicines watchdog has issued a warning about counterfeit cosmetics, revealing that some have been found to contain lead and arsenic.

The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) is warning consumers to beware of ‘high-end’ beauty products being offered for sale in the run-up to Christmas.

Among the counterfeit products identified are luxury make-up brands including MAC, Urban Decay, and Benefit.

The HPRA warns that the Christmas season is the peak time of the year for rogue sellers of counterfeit products.

Over the past year, thousands of counterfeit cosmetics have been prevented from entering the country by customs officials.

However, the HSE’s Environmental Health Service, which works in tandem with the HPRA, has found that some of the fake cosmetics are on sale in Ireland.

Some of the products are available online from websites based outside the EU, but they have also been found in some retail stores and at markets throughout the country.

Revenue’s Customs Service recently seized consignments of counterfeit perfume and there have been several instances of counterfeit make-up being found entering or on the Irish market by the HPRA.

The HPRA’s cosmetics compliance manager, Aoife Farrell, said it was worrying that ingredients banned from use in cosmetics are being found in the counterfeit products.

She said long periods of exposures to substances, such as arsenic and lead, could be harmful. Symptoms could include abdominal pain, diarrhoea, headaches, and vomiting.

Ms Farrell said even bogus products that might not contain banned substances are often manufactured in unhygienic conditions using poor quality raw materials.

Genuine high-end products are usually only available through high-street stores or pharmacies and the HPRA warns that consumers should be extremely cautious if they are offered products at markets or through non-reputable websites.