Online selling of banned skin lighteners prevails!

BAN Toxics signals the alarm following the 6.6 sale of various online shopping sites on banned mercury-laden skin lightening creams. In time for 6.6 mid-year sale promos by various online shopping platforms, 17-year-old student, youth volunteer and BT Patroller Mary Kate V. San Juan noticed the continuous promo ads of FDA-banned mercury-laden skin lightening products (SLPs) during an online market monitoring activity.

Skin lightening creams with mercury content are still being offered for sale, namely:

• C Collagen Plus Vit E Day & Night Cream

• Erna Cream

• Parley Goldie Advanced Beauty Cream

• Golden Pearl Cream

• Goree Products (Beauty Cream and Day & Night Beauty Cream)

• Jiaoli Products (Huichunsu Specific Eliminating Freckle Cream and Miraculous Cream)

• Szitang Products (2in1/3in1 7day/10day Whitening, and Spot-Day Night Set)

In March 2022, the Zero Mercury Working Group (ZMWG), of which BAN Toxics is a part, released “Skin lighteners still available online despite mercury findings.” The study revealed that high-mercury SLPs are widely available from a range of popular e-commerce platforms in 17 countries. Out of the 271 skin lightening products tested, 129 were found to have mercury levels over the 1 part per million (ppm) regulatory limit.

The Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued numerous public health warnings against toxic mercury-laden skin whitening cosmetic products from 2010 up to date. The regulatory agency also advised consumers to buy cosmetics products that have FDA market authorization, FDA License to Operate (LTO), and Product Certificates of Notifications.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “mercury-containing skin lightening products are hazardous to health. Adverse health effects of the inorganic mercury contained in skin lightening creams include: kidney damage, skin rashes, skin discoloration and scarring, reduction in the skin’s resistance to bacterial and fungal infections, anxiety, depression, psychosis and peripheral neuropathy.”

“I am a proud BT Patroller! Let us do our part, let our young voices be heard; and let us take a stand for a toxics-free future,” says Mary Kate San Juan.

“Just like Mary Kate, we encourage the young generation to care for the environment and be vigilant citizens who can help save lives and protect mother earth in their own way,” says Reynaldo San Juan Jr., executive director of BAN Toxics.

BAN Toxics further urged all online shopping platforms to comply with government regulations and remove the product ads of mercury-laden skin lightening creams that are already banned and prohibited by FDA.