The Korea Consumer Agency said Wednesday it had detected a higher-than-safe levels of mercury in the lip balm products of the global cosmetic brand Kiehl’s.

According to the consumer watchdog group, they found the lip balm exceeded the limit of one part per million of mercury after testing the Kiehl’s Lip Balm #1 SPF 4 Mint with lot number 18G100.

The KCA also said they collected samples of the same brand’s lip balms with different product codes and other brands’ products, but found much lower levels of mercury.

The agency asked customers to check the product code and if they find the identical code on the back of the product, to stop using it.

The importer of the Kiehl’s lip balm product LOK Company said customers can get a refund or exchange if they have lip balms with the product code.

Kiehl’s has a Korea flagship store in Samcheong-dong and outlets at major department stores around the country.

By Lee Woo-young (wylee@heraldcorp.com)