Global and local e-commerce platforms are purportedly selling skin-lightening products (SLPs) laced with mercury in the United States, according to a study released Thursday.
Two hundred and seventy-one online products, including skin care products from six platforms, were evaluated from 17 countries.
129 of the SLPs tested had mercury levels greater than 1.0 parts per million (ppm).
Almost half of the products tested contained excessive mercury, and some included thousands of times the permissible level, according to the report.
The new study was conducted by the Zero Mercury Working Group (ZMWG), a global non-governmental organisation alliance dedicated to the elimination of mercury usage, releases, and exposure.
It performed three independent investigations between 2017 and 2022, each of which confirmed continuous global access to unlawful, high-mercury skin lighteners.
The global market for SLPs is expected to reach $8.8 billion in 2022 and $11.8 billion by 2026.
In some populations, almost 50% of individuals use SLPs on a regular basis.
According to one study, 27.7 percent of people worldwide have used them at some point.
Around half of the lighters purchased on eBay, Shopee, Jiji, and Flipkart were discovered to contain mercury contents greater than 1.0 part per million, the legal limit stipulated by numerous states and the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the report revealed.
“Despite being unlawful, our findings indicate that the same high mercury skin lighteners are still being sold on the internet,” stated Michael Bender, director of the mercury policy project and ZMWG co-coordinator.
“What is prohibited on a national level should also be illegal online. E-commerce must adhere to the same norms as traditional commerce “he continued.
According to their packaging, the majority of the products evaluated were manufactured in Asia, specifically Pakistan (43%), Thailand (8.0%), China (6.0%), and Taiwan (4.0%).
Dr Shahriar Hossein, a ZMWG member from Bangladesh, states that these harmful and unlawful products represent a substantial risk of mercury exposure, particularly to repeat users and their children.
“We look forward to collaborating with authorities to put an end to the harmful trade in high-mercury skin lightening cosmetics,” he says.
Mercury is utilised in skin lightening products because it suppresses the production of melanin, resulting in a lighter skin tone. Regular use of SLPs containing mercury may cause rashes, discolouration, and blotching of the skin.
Prolonged exposure can have a detrimental effect on the eyes, lungs, kidneys, digestive, immunological, and nervous systems. 137 countries have signed the Minamata treaty, which commits them to phase out and regulate mercury in all forms, including cosmetics.
