19 January 2025, Quezon City. As the Zero Waste Month gets underway, the toxics watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition continues to find dangerous levels of mercury in unauthorized skin-lightening products from abroad that are being offered for sale to Filipino consumers via e-commerce.
In its latest discovery, the group cautioned consumers from using Thailand-made Meyyong Ra (Seaweed) Extra Whitening & Facelift after it detected mercury in excess of the one part per million (ppm) limit under the Asean Cosmetic Directive.
With the aid of a handheld X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer, mercury up to 2,447 ppm was detected on the green moisturizer cream of Meyyong Ra. Manufactured in 2023, the product consisting of one jar is sold online for P150.
The following description in English is written on the product packaging: “advanced super revitalizer cream whitening formula and facelift.”
The product appears to be related to the Meyyong Ra (Seaweed) Super Whitening Set, also made in Thailand, consisting of three jars (a day cream, a night cream, and a moisturizing cream), which the FDA banned last December 19, 2024 for lacking the required certificate of product notification.
The EcoWaste Coalition reminded consumers that mercury is highly toxic with no known level of exposure that is considered safe, noting pregnant women and children are most susceptible to the health-damaging effects of mercury exposure.
According to the fact sheet “Mercury in Skin Lightening Products” published by the World Health Organization (WHO), “adverse health effects of the inorganic mercury contained in skin lightening creams and soaps 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.”
The EcoWaste Coalition warned that mercury in skin-lightening products can also contaminate the environment and the food supply. As stated by the WHO, “mercury in soaps, creams and other cosmetic products is eventually discharged into the waste water. The mercury then enters the environment, where it becomes methylated and can enter the food chain as highly toxic methylmercury in fish.”
“Pregnant women who consume fish containing methylmercury can transfer the mercury to their fetuses, which can result in neuro-developmental deficits in the children,” the WHO explained.
Mercury in skin-lightening products, the EcoWaste Coalition pointed out, can also harm babies and other members of a household as they can inhale the mercury vapors emitted by contaminated cosmetics, or get exposed by hugging or kissing persons who have applied such products, or by touching blankets, pillows and towels tainted with mercury.
To avoid mercury contamination of the human body and the ecosystems, the group again urged all Filipinos to embrace our natural skin color and reject chemical whiteners such as those containing mercury and other hazardous compounds, stressing “beauty has no skin tone and that all colors are beautiful.”
The group will duly notify the FDA about its latest toxic discovery and request for law enforcement action.
https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/330015/WHO-CED-PHE-EPE-19.13-eng.pdf?sequence=1
