4 days ago
Popular hair growth cream recalled over risk of 'serious injury or death from poisoning'
Officials are raising the alarm over a popular hair loss serum sold nationwide that could cause serious injury and death.
Sefralls Minoxidil Hair Generation Serum, sold in amber dropper bottles for $10 on Amazon, is being recalled because it is not in child-resistant packaging.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission, which announced the recall, warned children could accidentally open and consume the minoxidil-laced fluid.
Scientists say that consuming just a few ounces of minoxidil, an over-the-counter medication approved by the FDA to reverse hair loss, can cause blood vessels to become dangerously relaxed, triggering extremely low blood pressure.
This can cause the heart to shut down, start beating erratically or go into heart failure, and cause death. It can also pose a serious hazard to pets if ingested.
About 21,300 units of the product have been recalled and were distributed in the US from June 2024 to June 2025.
No injuries or deaths have been reported to date.
Guangzhou Ariel Biotech, the Chinese company behind the product, has urged customers to immediately place recalled bottles out of sight or reach of children and contact them for instructions on how to destroy the bottles.
It is offering to send replacements to customers who pour the contents of the bottle into the trash, photograph it and send the image to the company.
Officials said customers could identify whether their minoxidil had been recalled by whether it mentioned 'Sefralls' and 'minoxidil' on the label.
The bottles sold also had a white and gold dropper and a white, black and gold label.
The recall is thought to affect every bottle of Sefralls Minoxidil Hair Generation Serum sold in the US.
In the recall notice on August 7, the CPSC wrote: 'The hair serum's packaging is not child-resistant, posing a risk of serious injury or death from poisoning if the contents are swallowed by young children.'
All bottles of minoxidil sold in the US are required to be child resistant under the 1970 Poison Prevention Packaging Act.
Officials included minoxidil in the act amid mounting concerns over the risk the drug posed to small children.
There are no publicly reported fatalities in the US to date among young children who accidentally consumed minoxidil.
Minoxidil has exploded in popularity in recent years, alongside hair loss drug finasteride, with about 13million Americans estimated to use the drug in 2024.
The US hair loss market has also surged in value, with estimates suggesting it will more than double from a value of $2.84billion to more than $5.26billion over the next decade.
The drug works by boosting blood flow to the areas surrounding hair follicles, which can stimulate hair regrowth and restore hair in previously bald patches.
It is formulated in low concentrations in hair loss treatments to achieve this effect safely, minimizing the risk to patients.
If consumed, doctors treat patients by administering large amounts of fluids and medications to raise blood pressure.
The FDA has only approved minoxidil as a drug for treating hair loss.
It is at least the second recall over minoxidil being sold in non-child safe bottles in as many months, after another recall was issued in late July for Aemerry Hair Growth Serums, which also was not sold in child-resistant packaging.
About 2,300 bottles of the hair growth serums were sold online at from March to June this year for about $22 each.
They were sold in black-tinted bottles with droppers for dispensing the serums and navy blue labels with blue and white lettering.
The front of the bottles read: 'Aemerry Clinically Proven To Help Regrow Beard 5% Minoxidil with Biotin.'
No injuries or deaths have been reported to date, and consumers are being urged to throw out the bottles.
