NGO Zero Mercury Working Group demands ban on mercury in cosmetic products under the Minamata Convention

The non-governmental organization (NGO) Zero Mercury Working Group (ZMWG) has conducted a market monitoring of skin lightening products sold online and found that toxic mercury cosmetics are still being marketed as a ‘solution’ for dark skin. The ZMWG is urging the negotiators at the Fifth Conference of the Parties (COP5) to the Minamata Convention to address the enforcement gaps and implementation failures related to mercury-containing cosmetics. 

African proposal 

In May 2023, Botswana, and Burkina Faso on behalf of the African Parties to the Minamata Convention, proposed an amendment to eliminate the use of mercury in cosmetics, removing the current 1ppm threshold for mercury in cosmetics and phasing out the substance completely by 2025. Mercury is used in products such as skin lightening products (SLPs) which are predominantly used by people of colour to obtain lighter skin. The text of the proposal can be found here.

The African amendment seeks to strengthen the Minamata Convention provision by: 

• Banning the production and sale of all ‘mercury-added’ cosmetics, not just those containing more than 1 ppm of mercury.  

• Restricting the trade of ‘mercury-added’ SLPs, including sales, offers for sale, marketing, advertising, and display. 

• Coordinating inter-ministerial, bilateral, and/or regional strategies to phase-out mercury SLPs  

• Increasing public awareness regarding the risks associated with mercury SLPs. 

Report by Zero Mercury Working Group 

On 12 October 2023, the NGO Zero Mercury Working Group (ZMWG) released its report on ‘Online Marketing of Toxic Skin Lighteners’. In the report they state that they have found mercury levels ranging from 1.18 ppm to 74,800 ppm in 191 out of 213 SLPs purchased from online platforms.  

The report highlights the current lack of adequate measures to stop the production and online sale of mercury-added SLPs. Online platforms, continue to avoid their duty to stop unethical sellers from advertising, marketing and selling illegal SLPs. 

Based on information from the packaging of these products ZMWG said that most of these products are manufactured or distributed from Pakistan (34 %), Thailand (17%) and China (13%) and sold on various online platforms such as Amazon, eBay, Shopee, and Flipkart 

In addition, ZMWG has highlighted some other issues with the information on the packaging of SLPs: 

1. The information on the packaging is often inaccurate and misleading information. 

2. Mercury-added SLPs that did not list mercury as an ingredient  

3. Country of origin is not always listed. 

4. Obscure name of manufacturer 

5. Web links that lead to unsafe or unrelated webpages. 

6. Phone numbers that do not connect to the manufacturer.