Beauty Forum Feb23 - Flipbook - Page 30
Hazardous
Governments join forc
beauty p
The governments of Gabon, Jamaica and Sri
Lanka have joined forces to fight back against
damaging beauty practices, launching a joint
US$14-million project to eliminate the use of
mercury in skin lightening products.
Using cosmetics to inhibit the body’s production of
melanin, leading the skin to appear lighter, is a
centuries-old practice in many parts of the world
that continues to take a toxic toll today.
Both men and women use skin lightening products,
not only to lighten their skin but to fade freckles,
blemishes, age spots and treat acne. However,
consumers are often unaware that many of these
products contain harmful chemicals including
mercury, a toxic substance which poses risks to
human health and contaminates the environment.
Skin lightening products can cause skin rashes and
discolouration; scarring; nervous, digestive and
immune system damage, as well as anxiety and
depression. The Minamata Convention on Mercury
has set a limit of 1mg/1kg (1ppm) for mercury in
skin lightening products. However, a 2018 Zero
Mercury Working Group and Biodiversity Research
Institute test of over 300 products from 22 countries
found that approximately 10 per cent of skin
lightening creams exceeded this limit, with many
containing as much as 100 times the authorised
amount.
Led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP),
with funding from the Global Environment Facility
(GEF), and executed by the World Health
Organization (WHO) and Biodiversity Research
Institute (BRI), the Eliminating mercury skin
lightening products project will work to reduce the
risk of exposure to mercury-added skin lightening
products, raising awareness of the health risks
associated with their use, developing model
regulations to reduce their circulation, and halting
production, trade and distribution across domestic
and international markets.
“Mercury is a hidden and toxic ingredient in the skin
lightening creams that many people are using daily,
often without an understanding of just how
dangerous this is”, GEF CEO and Chairperson
Carlos Manuel Rodriguez said.
“This initiative is significant as it focuses not only on
substitutions for harmful ingredients, but on
awareness building that can help change
behaviours that are damaging to individual health
as well as the planet.”
Skin lightening products don’t just pose a risk to the
user – children can be exposed through breastmilk,
and food chains can become contaminated when
cosmetics are washed off into wastewater. In
addition, the compound can travel far from its point
of dispersal, accumulating in the earth, water and
soil without breaking down in the environment.
With demand for skin lightening products projected
to grow to US$11.8-billion by 2026, fueled by a
growing middle class in the Asia-Pacific region and
changing demographics in Africa and the
Caribbean, the use of harmful ingredients in skin
lightening products is a global issue.
