The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued warnings to several major online retailers, including Walmart and Amazon, regarding the sale of unapproved chemical peel skin products. The FDA highlighted that many of these products contain corrosive chemicals at high concentrations, which are unsafe for home use without medical supervision.
On July 25, the FDA sent warning letters to six companies, instructing them to immediately cease marketing specific chemical peel products that pose significant risks to consumers. Following this, the agency published a consumer warning on July 30, detailing its actions and cautioning the public against purchasing these products.
“FDA is warning consumers not to purchase or use certain chemical peel skin products without appropriate professional supervision due to the risk of serious skin injuries,” stated the FDA. “The agency has not approved any chemical peel products, and consumers should only consider using chemical peel products under the supervision of a dermatologist or a licensed and trained practitioner.”
Chemical peel products are typically marketed as beauty solutions for treating acne, discoloration, wrinkles, and enhancing collagen production. However, the FDA noted that the products in question contain high concentrations of ingredients such as trichloroacetic acid (TCA), glycolic acid, salicylic acid, and lactic acid, which require medical supervision.
“Using products that contain high concentrations of these acids may lead to serious injury from chemical burns,” warned the FDA. “The concentration, number of applications, and the duration a chemical peel product is left on the skin all influence how deeply it can penetrate skin layers and potentially lead to chemical burns.”
“These products remove layers of skin to varying depths and may cause severe chemical burns, pain, swelling, infection, skin color changes, and disfiguring scars,” the agency added. “These injuries may even require emergency care or specialty care from a dermatologist or surgeon.”
The FDA has given the retailers 15 working days to respond to the warning letters.
As of the publication of this article, many of the products on Walmart and Amazon appear to have been removed. However, one of the products, Skin Beauty Solutions lactic acid skin peel 90%, is still available on Amazon. Other companies such as Matte Beauty and Repare Skincare are also marketing some of the products that the FDA found objectionable.
The FDA is urging healthcare professionals and consumers to report adverse events associated with these chemical peels to its MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program.
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