Sun.Star Cebu

FDA SEIZES MOSQUITO REPELLANTS

- KAL

Authoritie­s raided a store in Barangay Poblacion, Danao City for allegedly selling toxic mosquito coils yesterday morning.

Personnel of the Food and Drug Administra­tion (FDA), Regional Special Operations Group (RSOG) and Danao City Police Station seized more than a hundred boxes of BaoMa black mosquito repellent coils from United General Merchandis­e.

BaoMa is one of the China-made products banned by the FDA for posing danger to public health and animals.

Senior Insp. Windell Abellana, the RSOG team leader, said they were tapped by FDA to investigat­e the store last week, after receiving reports that the store continued to sell the mosquito coils.

An undercover police officer succeeded in buying BaoMa mosquito coils before the raid took place.

Abellana said the police and FDA still have to investigat­e where the store sourced their supplies. The owners, who were not caught yesterday, will face administra­tive charges.

The FDA’s website listed BaoMa as one of the 16 banned insecticid­es, mostly from China.

“Buying unregister­ed insecticid­e product is dangerous to health since the active ingredient is unknown and may cause harm to consumers. There are insecticid­es that are banned in the Philippine­s, and these toxic products are being smuggled and dumped in the country,” the FDA’s public health warning read.

The agency further stated that these insecticid­es can cause skin rashes, affect asthmatics and they have “active ingredient­s, which may interfere with metabolism of prescribed medication­s people are taking for a serious illness, thereby causing complicati­ons.”

The other banned products are aerosol can spray Tianshi, Big Bie Pai Extra Power, Butiki Water-based Multi-Insect Killer (possibly locally manufactur­ed), General Toad, Wawang Frogking, Sun Universe Frogking, Read a Dream Insecticid­e, Baolilai and Big Bie Pai.

Mosquito coil products with brand names of BaoMa Wawang, Juzhongwan­g, Kingba MiniSmoke, Tianshi, Read A Dream Black mosquito repellant and Green Leaf Powder Cockroach Killing Bait are not registered with the FDA. /

BaoMa Mosquito Repellant is one of the toxic products banned by the agency Insecticid­e, says FDA, causes rashes, asthma, alters metabolism

 ?? SUNSTAR FOTO / ALAN TANGCAWAN ?? TOXIC. The Food and Drug Administra­tion and the Regional Special Operations Group raided a store in Barangay Poblacion, Danao City for selling toxic mosquito repellants.
SUNSTAR FOTO / ALAN TANGCAWAN TOXIC. The Food and Drug Administra­tion and the Regional Special Operations Group raided a store in Barangay Poblacion, Danao City for selling toxic mosquito repellants.

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