27 March 2026, Quezon City. As the observance of the National Women’s Month draws to a close, the EcoWaste Coalition announced its discovery of a Thailand-made skin lightening product that boasts its use of blackberry, bilberry, blueberry, cranberry, and raspberry extracts, while failing to disclose its dangerous mercury content.
Bought online from a local reseller for P344, Berry Plus Extra Whitening Cream highlights the benefits of mixed berries, as well as alpha arbutin, collagen, and glutathione, to reduce melanin production, remove acne, blemishes, and scars, and tighten pores, promising to make skin smooth, bright, and white.
While bragging about its berry-infused formula and other additives, the product manufacturer, not clearly identified on the label, keeps the presence of mercury secret.
With the aid of an Olympus Vanta M Series X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) instrument, the EcoWaste Coalition unmasked the hidden mercury in the Berry Plus Extra Whitening Cream.
Aside from mixed berry extracts and other additives, Berry Plus Extra Whitening Cream contains 2,380 ppm of mercury in violation of the ASEAN and global ban on mercury in cosmetics.
According to the XRF screening, the product contains 2,380 parts per million (ppm) of mercury, a toxic chemical banned in the manufacture of cosmetics such as skin-lightening creams and soaps as per the ASEAN Cosmetic Directive and the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
The product with lot number 00789 was manufactured on February 2, 2025, in brazen defiance of the mercury treaty’s original 2020 and amended 2025 phase-out deadlines for the manufacture, import, and export of mercury-added cosmetics. It will expire on the same day in 2027 as indicated on the label.
An Internet search further revealed that testing conducted by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) in 2025 found 2,270 ppm of mercury on Berry Plus Extra Whitening Cream purchased online.
Through a Consumer Alert, the CDPH advised consumers to immediately stop using Berry Plus and other products found to contain dangerous levels of mercury, see a doctor, and get a urine test.
Echoing the CDPH’s advisory, the EcoWaste Coalition appealed to Filipino consumers to stop using Berry Plus Extra Whitening Cream and similar products flagged for containing mercury and visit a doctor for medical evaluation and advice.
Toxics watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition pushes for the nth time the immediate removal of online product listings for skin-lightening products containing mercury.
Aside from Berry Plus, the EcoWaste Coalition had previously tagged the following Thailand-made products for containing mercury in violation of the ASEAN Cosmetic Directive and the Minamata Convention of Mercury: 88 Whitening Night Cream(5 grams); 88 Whitening Night Cream (20 grams); Aura White Night Cream Intensive Whitening Facial Cream; Dr. Yanhee (purple plastic box container); Dr. Yanhee (green plastic box container); Dr. Yanhee (gold plastic box container); Dr. Yanhee (pink plastic box container); Dr. Yanhee, (transparent plastic box container with blue label); Dr. Wuttisak (blue label); and Dr. Wuttisak, (green label).
Also flagged for being contaminated with mercury were Lady Gold Seaweed/Gluta Super Gluta Brightening; Meyyong Ra (Seaweed) Extra Whitening & Facelift; Meyyong Seaweeds Super Whitening; Polla Gold Super White Perfects; Pumepine Total White Underarm Cream; Q-nic Care Whitening Night Cream; Q-nic Care Underarm Whitening Cream; and Snow White Armpit Whitening Underarm Cream.
As the National Women’s Month concludes, the EcoWaste Coalition reiterated its call for women, as well as men, to embrace their natural skin color and refrain from using skin bleaching, lightening, or whitening products laced with mercury and other hazardous substances, noting beauty has no skin tone or standards.
Reference:
https://iris.who.int/server/
