Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada on Sunday ordered the City Health Office to go after jewelry shops selling silver cleaners that contain the deadly cyanide compound.
Estrada said City Ordinance No. 8178 passed in 2008 prohibits the retail of all metal and jewelry cleaners containing cyanide. Violators are fined P5,000 or one-year imprisonment.
“We will enforce the city ordinance against the selling of these cyanide-containing silver cleaners, and the silver polish itself, we will get rid of it immediately. This product is lethal,” Estrada said after the EcoWaste Coalition urged mayors and local health and police chiefs to ban harmful jewelry cleaners.
On August 20, the group conducted a “test buy” and managed to purchase silver cleaning products in a shopping mall in Quiapo, in a beads and accessories store on Villalobos Street, and in another silver jewelry store on Carriedo Street.
Estrada directed City Health Officer Dr. Benjamin Yson to join the Manila Police District in surprise raids on stores selling the banned product.
“We will continuously monitor these stores to make sure that silver cleaners are not sold for household use. It’s supposed to be for limited industrial use only. Violators will be duly penalized,” he warned.
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the cyanide in the silver cleaning products could cause serious poisoning or death.
“I urge jewelry buyers to be vigilant and make sure to check the product details. If you are offered this product, inform us immediately so that these sellers will be apprehended,” Yson said.
Cyanide is easily absorbed by the body, making it deadly to people who touch, use, or inhale it, he pointed out.
Moreover, the FDA advised the public to avoid purchasing the polish if it has no instructions for use in English or Filipino.
Two cyanide-poisoning deaths have been reported in Manila in 2013 and 2015. The victims were Kristel Tejada, then a freshman student at UP Manila, and Alfred Cardeno, a student of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.
Tejada and Cardeno were both 16-year-olds at the time of their deaths in March 2013 and September 2015, respectively.