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Vivienne Chow

Customs officers are investigating after two brands of beauty masks were found to have excessive levels of potentially harmful bacteria - one exceeding the standard by 3,300 times.

This follows tests by the Consumer Council on 40 paper face masks which claim to have a whitening or moisturising effect, or both.

The council said the bacteria found in the DPC Hydro Whitening Mask and the Tiffanye Lavender Facial Mask could cause skin infections.

The DPC mask had 3.3 million units of bacteria per gram, 3,300 times the 1,000 units set by the China National Health Inspection hygiene standard for cosmetics.

The Tiffanye mask had 36,000 units, 36 times the standard.

Hong Kong does not have its own standard for such products.

The two samples were also found to have yeast and mould counts exceeding the mainland standard.

DPC Hydro Whitening Mask had 1.1 million units, while the Tiffanye Lavender Facial Mask had 3,500 units, much higher than the standard of 100 units per gram.

The Customs and Excise Department said it would follow up the case and had bought samples of the imported masks for further testing.

The council said that after the tests the local distributor for Tiffanye had suspended sales of the product but said later its own tests had shown the masks met the mainland requirements.

Watsons last night recalled stocks of the Tiffanye Lavender Facial Mask and Watsons Whitening and Moisturising Facial Mask in response to the findings. DPC did not return calls for comment.

The 40 masks tested ranged in price from $2.50 to $80 each.

Ching Pak-chung, vice-chairman of the Consumer Council's publicity and community relations committee,  said such high levels of bacteria could be harmful.

'If the masks were used for a long time around the delicate eye area they could cause infection,' Professor Ching said.

'If the mask is applied on a wound it could cause infection and the wound would take much longer to heal.'

He said bacteria was able to survive in the moist environment provided by the facial masks.

Dermatologist Leung Sze-kee said a minimal amount of bacteria would not cause problems but too much could lead to infection. The presence of yeasts and moulds could also lead to complications.

Up to last month, the Consumer Council had received 18 complaints about facial masks, compared with 19 last year. They mainly focused on masks failure to whiten and/or moisturise and allergic reactions to masks.

The tests also found three samples of facial masks contained fluorescent substances that remained on the skin after washing, causing the skin to glow under UV light.

The China National Health Inspection standard is 1,000 colony-forming units per gram. Germs have been found in the following facial masks:

DPC Hydro

Whitening Mask  3.3 million

Tiffanye Lavender

Facial Mask 36,000

DPC 100% Moisturising

Mask  130

Neutrogena Fine Fairness Deep Hydrating Mask 50

L'Oreal White Perfect Instant Radiance Facial Whitening Mask 30

Olay Aqua Hydration nourishing

hydration mask  20

DHC a-Arbutin

White Mask 10

Facial masks found to have fluorescent substance:

Watsons Whitening and Moisturising Facial Mask

DPC Hydro Whitening Mask

DPC 100% Moisturising Mask



Whitening beauty masks full of bacteria: watchdog