A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor yesterday urged the Taipei City Government to tighten inspections of hair dye products after a consumer alleged a made-in-China hair product caused skin allergies and other physical conditions.
Wearing a hat and a mask, a 39-year-old woman, surnamed Tseng, yesterday showed a hair dye she had used from the L’Oreal Group, and blamed the product, which was made in China, for serious allergies on her scalp, hair loss and other side effects, including stomach aches.
“I felt great pain on my head soon after my hairdresser applied the product on my hair. I’d never had allergic reactions to their products before … The doctor told me that I could experience more serious hair loss and other side effects,” she said in tears at the Taipei City Council.
Tseng said she visited her usual hair salon last month and spent more than NT$5,000 to have her hair dyed. The brand’s hair color product, which had never made her uncomfortable, caused great pain on her head immediately.
Chien Ming-cheng (簡銘成), a dermatologist at Taipei City Hospital, said that while Tseng suffered a skin infection, the other side effects may have been caused by mental stress.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Yen Sheng-kuan (顏聖冠) challenged Taipei City’s Department of Health over its inspection of hair color products and urged Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) to tighten inspections on made-in-China products.
“If Hau supported the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement [ECFA] with China so much, he should strengthen the regulations on all made-in-China products,” she said.
Chiang Yu-mei (姜郁美), director of the department’s Food and Drug Division, said the division conducts regular inspection on hair dyes, but promised to send the dye for further inspection. The company could face fines up to NT$100,000 if the product is found to contain banned ingredients.
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