The Drugs Control Department has seized spurious cosmetic products worth ₹9.64 lakh, Health Minister K. Muraleedharan said on Wednesday. Inspections also revealed unsafe levels of mercury in two brands of face cream, according to him.

The products, seized as part of Operation Soundarya launched by the department, include those found to be in violation of the Cosmetics Rules, 2020, and products manufactured and distributed without the mandatory manufacturing and marketing licences and permits.

The Drugs Control Department had collected samples of face creams sold in the market in view of the health issues in children and teenagers arising from the excessive use of face creams. The samples were sent to the drug testing laboratories of the department in Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam, Mr. Muraleedharan said.

In some of lipstick and face cream samples, the presence of mercury was found in excess of the legal limit, he said. While the legally permissible limit is only 1 parts per million (ppm), two face creams - ‘Faiza’ and ‘Goree’ - were found to have up to 20,000 ppm. The Pakistan-made creams arrive in the market without purchase bills, Mr. Muraleedharan said. Steps were taken to withdraw such products from the market, according to him.

The cosmetics were seized during four rounds of ‘Operation Soundarya’ completed by July-end, the Minister said. The department had seized products valued at ₹5.09 lakh in the first phase, and ₹2.50 lakh in the second phase. Phases three and four had first phase of the operation had led to the seizure of cosmetics valued at ₹1.5 lakh and ₹55,000 respectively.

The operation was undertaken by the department to curb the sale of spurious cosmetic products that are harmful to health. Lipsticks, baby care products such as powders, oils and soaps were subjected to quality checks as part of the inspections.