EcoWaste Coalition Exposes Nonstop Trade of Banned Cosmetics with Very High Levels of Mercury in Taguig City
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| The mercury content of this Goree Beauty Cream will qualify this product as a toxic waste rather than as a cosmetic. |
10 March 2025, Quezon City. The toxics watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition denounced the unrelenting sale of dangerous skin lightening products contaminated with very high levels of mercury, a potent neurotoxin, at Sunshine Mall Plaza in Taguig City.
Coinciding with the celebration of the International Women’s Day on March 8 and the World Consumer Rights Day on March 15, the group yesterday returned to one of the pioneering shopping malls in Taguig City to check on store compliance to the strict prohibition on the manufacture, importation, distribution and sale of cosmetics containing mercury, a highly hazardous chemical not permitted as an ingredient in such products.
“To safeguard the health of women and other vulnerable groups, children in particular, from the adverse effects of mercury exposure, and to uphold the right of consumers to be protected against products that are hazardous to health and life, we appeal to the Taguig City Government and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Regional Field Office for the National Capital Region to join forces to enforce the ban on mercury cosmetics in Taguig City and the rest of the metropolis,” said Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition.
Despite the report submitted by the group to the Office of Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano last July 2024 and the efforts of the Business Permit and Licensing Office to address the matter, some retail stores continue to break the law and openly sell FDA-banned skin lightening products, the EcoWaste Coalition lamented.
Under the ASEAN Cosmetic Directive, mercury as a heavy metal contaminant cannot exceed the trace amount limit of one part per million, or 1 ppm. The Minamata Convention on Mercury further imposes a global phase-out in 2020 on the manufacture, import and export of mercury-added cosmetics and, as of 2025, no mercury level will be allowed in cosmetics.
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| This Goree product purchased in Taguig City contains extremely high levels of mercury measured at 3.101 percent, or 31,010 ppm, way above the ASEAN limit of1 ppm. |
In test buys conducted on March 9 at Sunshine Mall Plaza, the EcoWaste Coalition managed to procure four products that have long been prohibited by the FDA for being sold without prior authorization from the agency and/or for containing mercury.
The group obtained from retailers samples of Thailand-made 88 Total White Underarm from Thailand manufactured in 2025 and three types of Pakistan-made Goree Beauty Cream manufactured in 2023 and 2024, way past the global phase-out target for mercury-added cosmetics such as creams to lighten the skin tone.
The group then examined the mercury content of the products bought for P250-P260 each using a handheld point-and-shoot X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer, which found them positive for very high levels of mercury:
- Goree Gold 24K Beauty Cream has 31,010 ppm (FDA banned this product in 2023);
- Goree Beauty Cream with Lycopene has 29,110 ppm (banned since 2017);
- Goree Day & Night Beauty Cream has 28,090 ppm (banned since 2017); and
- 88 Total White Underarm Cream has 2,006 ppm (banned since 2021).
Aside from the above, the EcoWaste Coalition also found three other FDA-banned mercury-containing cosmetics being offered for sale at Sunshine Mall Plaza, including Collagen Plus Vit E Day & Night Cream, Jiaoli Miraculous Cream, and S’Zitang 10-Day Eliminating Freckle Day & Night Set.
The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies mercury as one of the 10 chemicals or groups of chemicals of major public health concern. It is added in some skin lightening products to suppress the body’s production of melanin, causing a lighter skin tone. Mercury is released through usual product use with skin absorption and inhalation as common routes of exposure.
Mercury in cosmetics, the FDA and WHO warned, can cause skin discoloration, rashes and scarring, and reduce skin’s resistance to bacterial and fungal infections. Repeated applications can harm the kidneys, the brain and the central nervous system.
Health experts further warned that mercury in skin lightening products can harm the unborn child as it can cross the placental membranes during pregnancy and accumulate in fetal tissues, affecting the developing brain and nervous system and resulting in neuro-developmental problems.
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| The EcoWaste Coalition encourages all citizens, especially women, to embrace our natural skin color to avoid being exposed to mercury and other hazardous substances in skin lightening products. |
References:
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-CED-PHE-EPE-19.13https://asean.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/ASEAN-Guidelines-Limits-of-Contaminant-Cosmetics-.pdf
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