In 2013, China's Food and Drug Administration revealed that Avon Naturals Rose and Rose Hips Fairness Cream contained the prohibited substance phenol. Phenol is often used to make floor paints, wallpaper and cosmetics, and may affect female fertility, and cause liver and kidney damage.

The China Food and Drug Administration has announced that Avon brand skin-whitening cream has been found to contain the prohibited substance phenol.

Avon Naturals Rose and Rose Hips Fairness Cream was named one of the unqualified products after the administration carried out examinations on 505 whitening, spot-removing and hair-dying products in Hebei, Jilin, Fujian, Shandong and Hunan provinces. The cream by US-based beauty products company Avon was found containing 12g/g of phenol.

Phenol is a precursor that is often used to make floor paints, wallpaper and cosmetics. The chemical may affect female fertility, with users finding it difficult to conceive or give birth. It may also cause liver and kidney damage, said Dong Jinshi, deputy secretary-general of the Beijing Society for Environmental Science.


Extracts from a WantChinaTimes article (original *dead link*). Published 7 December 2013.