Health Minster Yvette D’Ath has appointed an administrator in place of the North West Hospital and Health Service board after issuing a show cause notice last month.
New Which? research has uncovered the hidden dangers posed by teeth whitening products sold through online marketplaces, revealing the unsafe and illegal levels of dangerous chemicals contained within them.
Teeth whiteners come in all shapes and sizes, from gel-coated whitening strips or gel-filled syringes to pens with brush tips used to paint on whitening fluid.
But more than half of the whiteners we tested contained far too much hydrogen peroxide and you could be putting your health at risk by using them.
We bought 36 teeth whiteners through online marketplaces AliExpress, Amazon, eBay and Wish. We tested them to find out how much hydrogen peroxide (the chemical used to whiten teeth) each of them contained and we also tested a widely available high street whitener for comparison.
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Sue Davies, Head of Consumer Protection Policy at Which?, said: “It’s worrying that our tests have revealed so many of these products sold on online marketplaces – and often hyped on social media – are breaking legal limits for hydrogen peroxide and putting the health of users at risk.
“It’s clear that self-regulation is not working, leaving people exposed to a flood of unsafe products online.”
Online marketplaces, including Amazon, eBay and AliExpress, have now removed the unsafe products from sale.
Over the legal limit
Teeth-whitening products sold for use at home can contain no more than 0.1 per cent hydrogen peroxide, while the legal limit for application by professional dentists is 6 per cent.
Dangerous home teeth-whitening kits sold online
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Some home teeth-whitening kits sold online contain dangerous levels of bleaching chemical that can burn gums and cause tooth loss, an investigation has revealed.
The worst had more than 300 times the recommended amount of hydrogen peroxide, says consumer group Which?.
A further 20 products out of 36 tested also had illegal levels of the bleach.
All have since been removed from sale by outlets including AliExpress, Amazon and eBay.
Oral Orthodontic Materials Store, the company behind the product containing the highest levels of hydrogen peroxide - at 30.7% - told Which? that it had found the mistake, corrected it in time and that the product has been removed from sale .