SON seizes N55m ‘harmful’ detergents in Ogun

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), on Wednesday, in Ogun State, raided retail outlets and a company producing detergents with chemicals deemed harmful to humans.

The SON officials led by the state coordinator, Engr Jerome Otene Umoru, in company of  security agents, stormed major outlets in Ota, Ado Odo-Ota Local Government Area, to carry out the enforcement.

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The officials evacuated cartons of detergents from retail outlets while others were quarantined within the shops, all valued at N55 million.

The enforcement team visited four retail outlets and Daraju Industries Limited, a company caught flouting the agency’s regulations on detergent production.

Speaking with newsmen at the end of the exercise, Umoru said the products were evacuated and quarantined because they contained phosphate, which is harmful to humans and the environment.

He said SON had since warned manufacturing companies to stop the use of phosphate in the production of detergents, but they turned deaf ears to the regulation.

The coordinator said the organisation had carried out analysis on 36 detergent products nationwide, and 14 were discovered to contain phosphate, hence, the enforcement exercise.

Umoru said the enforcement was aimed at stopping further use of phosphate in detergents production in order to protect Nigerians from the harmful chemicals.

He said, “In 2018, manufacturing companies were told to stop using  phosphate in the production of detergents but some of them are still using it. It has a lot of effects on human beings and the environment.

“Because they are still using it, we have been told to come evacuate it and stop further production.

“The health implication is that it leads to skin irritation. If you continue to use it, it causes cancer of the skin. Another thing is that it has implications on the environment.”