The Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Industry and Commerce has conducted an audit of the toothpaste products sold in Harbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang Province, and found that about a third of the toothpaste sold in the city was substandard.
The inspection team checked 15 batches of toothpaste products and focused on 16 qualities for toothpaste, including thickness, pH levels, lead count, and arsenic values. They found that 10 of the batches of toothpaste surveyed were up to standard, accounting for 66.7%, and the rest were substandard.
The main problems of the substandard toothpaste batches were said to include substandard fluorine content and labeling. Toothpaste with the wrong fluorine content may not work effectively in preventing tooth decay, or may cause chronic fluorin poisoning and harm the nervous system, as well causing such problems as osteoporosis and fluorine stained teeth.
HPDIC suggests that consumers purchase well-known brands of toothpaste with a QS label and pay attention to product labeling, production dates and expiry dates.
