NEW YORK, April 17, 2009 (AFP) - New Yorkers looking for a quick beauty fix risk death from unlicensed practitioners offering oil injections to enhance prized body parts, health authorities warned Friday 17 April.

Pedestrians walk by a fashion display in a window along 5th Avenue in March 2009 in New York City. New Yorkers looking for a quick beauty fix risk death from unlicensed practitioners offering oil injections to enhance prized body parts, health authorities warned. (AFP/Getty Images/File/Spencer Platt)

The city health department said silicone, petroleum jelly, castor oil, mineral oil or cod liver oil were among substances injected by unscrupulous practitioners.

"People who undergo these unsafe procedures hope to enhance their appearance, but the reality can be lifelong deformity and even death," said Doctor Nathan Graber, director of the city's environmental and occupational disease program.

The health department said in a statement that side effects include "serious infections, nerve damage, respiratory and kidney failure, irreversible disabilities, disfigurement and death."

The department said it was aware of five cases in the last two years in which oil injections had been given to the hips, thighs, breasts and buttocks.

The department warned New Yorkers to avoid treatments done at home, in hotels or anywhere other than a licensed clinic.

"The use of oils to enhance body parts is risky under any circumstances," the department advised.