Published Feb 27, 2026 | 7:00 AM ⚊ Updated Feb 27, 2026 | 7:00 AM
Face powder. Representative Image. (iStock)
Synopsis: The monthly drug quality report of CDSCO revealed that a popular face powder contained lead in it. The contaminated face powder poses serious health risks because lead accumulates in the body over time and causes irreversible damage to multiple organ systems. Additionally, the report reveals that cough and respiratory syrups continue to dominate pharmaceutical quality failures
A popular face powder brand has been found to be contaminated with lead, a toxic heavy metal with no safe exposure level, according to the latest monthly drug quality report released by India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation(CDSCO).
The discovery of White Tone Face Powder containing lead represents one of the most dangerous findings in the January 2026 surveillance report, which documented 218 substandard and spurious pharmaceutical and cosmetic products across the country.
The contaminated face powder, manufactured by VINI Cosmetics Private Limited in Ahmedabad and detected by the Drug Testing Laboratory in Bengaluru, poses serious health risks because lead accumulates in the body over time and causes irreversible damage to multiple organ systems.
Unlike pharmaceutical quality failures, where patients might receive ineffective treatment, lead contamination represents direct poisoning of consumers who apply the product to their faces daily, often multiple times, without any knowledge of the toxic exposure.
Lead is a neurotoxin that accumulates in bones and soft tissues, with no safe threshold of exposure established by health authorities worldwide. When present in face powder, lead can be absorbed through facial skin, inhaled during application when the powder becomes airborne, or ingested through hand-to-mouth contact after applying makeup.
The health consequences of chronic lead exposure are severe and irreversible, affecting nearly every system in the human body.
The neurological impacts of lead poisoning include cognitive impairment, memory problems, difficulty concentrating, and, in severe cases, permanent brain damage. Children exposed to lead, including through contact with adults wearing contaminated cosmetics, face particularly devastating consequences, including developmental delays, learning disabilities, and reduced IQ that persists throughout life.
Lead interferes with the development of the nervous system in ways that cannot be reversed even after exposure stops.
For women of childbearing age who regularly use face powder, lead contamination poses additional serious risks. Lead crosses the placental barrier during pregnancy, exposing developing foetuses to a potent neurotoxin during critical periods of brain and organ development. This can result in miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth, low birth weight, and developmental problems in children.
Even women who used lead-contaminated products before becoming pregnant remain at risk, because lead stored in their bones can be released into the bloodstream during pregnancy and lactation, exposing both foetus and nursing infant.
Beyond the lead-contaminated cosmetic, the January 2026 report reveals that cough and respiratory syrups continue to dominate pharmaceutical quality failures, with 29 such products failing quality tests during the month. This represents a continuation of the concerning trend identified in December 2025, when 47 cough syrups were found
substandard.
Tamil Nadu state laboratories once again detected the majority of cough syrup failures, finding 20 of the 29 substandard respiratory medications identified nationwide. The Drug Testing Laboratory in Madurai detected nine failed cough syrups, whilst the Drug Testing Laboratory in Chennai identified eleven such products.
This geographic concentration of detections, representing 69 percent of all cough syrup failures nationally, mirrors the pattern observed in December when Tamil Nadu laboratories found 51 percent of failed cough syrups.
The uniformity of failures remains deeply concerning. All 20 cough syrups detected by Tamil Nadu laboratories failed due to content issues, meaning they contained incorrect amounts of active pharmaceutical ingredients.
This consistent pattern across multiple manufacturers and multiple months suggests systematic cost-cutting practices within the cough syrup manufacturing sector rather than isolated quality control lapses or contamination incidents.
CIPCO Limited, a manufacturer based in Madhya Pradesh, had five separate batches of the same cough syrup formulation fail quality testing, all detected by the Drug Testing Laboratory in Jaipur. Each batch of the company’s Ambroxol, Terbutaline and Guaiphenesin syrup, manufactured between July and September 2025, failed assay testing for Ambroxol Hydrochloride content.
The fact that five different batches manufactured over three months all failed the identical test indicates a chronic, unfixed formulation problem that the company has not addressed despite repeated failures.
Major pharmaceutical companies were not immune to quality failures. Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Limited, an internationally recognised pharmaceutical manufacturer with global operations, had a batch of Terbutaline Sulphate, Bromhexine Hydrochloride and Guaiphenesin Syrup fail content testing at the Drug Testing Laboratory in Madurai.
The appearance of a major, well-regulated pharmaceutical company in the substandard quality list raises questions about oversight and quality control even at large, established manufacturing facilities.
The January report documented quality failures across therapeutic categories beyond cough syrups. Three batches of Clopidogrel tablets, a critical blood-thinning medication used by heart attack and stroke patients, all manufactured by Bactolac Formulations Private Limited in July 2025, failed description testing at the Drug Testing Laboratory in Chennai.
The sequential batch numbers and identical failure mode suggest a systematic production problem affecting multiple batches from the same manufacturing run.
Injectable medications continued to show concerning sterility failures. Two batches of Iron Sucrose Injection from Arco Lifesciences India Private Limited, manufactured a year apart, both failed sterility testing at the Drug Control Laboratory in Telangana. Multiple intravenous cannulas from established manufacturers, including Poly Medicure Limited and Romsons Group Private Limited, failed sterility and flow rate tests at the Central Drugs Laboratory in Kolkata.
Cardiovascular medications featured prominently among failures, with multiple batches of Telmisartan tablets from different manufacturers failing dissolution tests. Marc Lifesciences Sikkim had two consecutive batches fail dissolution testing in Chennai, whilst other manufacturers’ Telmisartan products failed assay and dissolution tests in other laboratories.
The prevalence of Telmisartan failures is particularly concerning, given that counterfeit versions of branded Telmisartan products were identified in the December 2025 spurious drugs report.
Three cosmetic henna products, all manufactured in Rajasthan, were found to contain no lawsone, the natural colouring compound that gives henna its dyeing properties. The absence of lawsone indicates these products likely contain synthetic dyes, some of which can cause severe allergic reactions, skin burns, and potentially carcinogenic effects.
Henna products are commonly used by pregnant women, brides, and children, making the substitution of natural ingredients with undisclosed synthetic dyes particularly hazardous.
The January 2026 report identified only three spurious or counterfeit drugs, a significant decrease from the seven spurious products found in December 2025. However, the appearance of counterfeit Ofloxacin and Ornidazole tablets in West Bengal and spurious Azithromycin detected in Mumbai indicates that counterfeit drug networks remain active despite regulatory enforcement efforts.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
