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Following is a question by the Hon Paul Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (February 25):
Question:
I have received complaints that a particular brand of medicated oil containing chloroform (i.e. trichloromethane) may cause skin irritation or burns, or even intoxication of users, and the Canadian Government prohibits the sale of the product in that country. However, as the chloroform content of the product does not exceed 5%, the sale, supply, labelling and storage of the product are not subject to the restrictions imposed by the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance (Cap. 138) on pharmaceutical products containing substances listed in the First Schedule to the Pharmacy and Poisons Regulations. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
(a) it had received reports from the public in the past five years that symptoms of irritated or burnt skin or intoxication appeared after using pharmaceutical products containing chloroform; if so, of a breakdown of such cases by the name of the products involved, their chloroform content and the age group of the members of public affected;
(b) the Government had made reference to the practices in other places when setting the above statutory ceiling on chloroform content; if so, whether it knows the number of places where non-prescription pharmaceutical products containing chloroform are totally banned and list the places where non-prescription pharmaceutical products containing chloroform are allowed according to the statutory ceiling on chloroform content prescribed; and
(c) it had reviewed the above statutory ceiling on chloroform content in the past five years; if it had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
(a) The Department of Health (DH) has not received any report from the public in the past five years on symptoms of irritated or burnt skin or intoxication after using pharmaceutical products containing chloroform.
(b) & (c) Currently, the DH regulates the sale and supply of pharmaceutical products in Hong Kong in accordance with the registration system under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance. The system seeks to ensure that the pharmaceutical products registered in Hong Kong have been assessed to have met the required standards of safety, efficacy and quality. In setting the regulatory standards, the DH will make reference to the standards and experience of other advanced countries.
According to the DH's information, the use of chloroform as preservative in pharmaceutical products is allowed in the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia with its content ceiling capped at 0.5%. The use of chloroform in pharmaceutical products in the United States and Canada is totally banned.
In accordance with the DH's standard, the chloroform content in pharmaceutical products should not exceed 0.5%. Such requirement is similar to that adopted in UK and Australia.
Ends/Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Issued at HKT 14:57
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