14 May 2026, Quezon City. The EcoWaste Coalition’s latest online sweep found mercury in four additional Pakistan-made skin lightening products, raising the total number of these dangerous imports from the South Asian country, as tracked by the group, to 40. Ironically, they all have a “Pakistan Standards Mark” on the box, which is supposed to mean compliance with national quality and safety protocols.
With the aid of a portable X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer, the EcoWaste Coalition detected mercury ranging from 16,670 to 24,690 parts per million (ppm) in four products purchased online. This goes against the original 2020 and the adjusted 2025 phase-out deadlines under the Minamata Convention on Mercury for the manufacture, export, and import of cosmetics such as skin lightening creams and soaps with added mercury, a potent neurotoxin and a significant endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC).
Aside from lighter and glowing skin, consumers are enticed to buy the products by promising a lighter, glowing complexion and the ability to remove acne marks, blackheads, pimples, freckles, dark spots — all while falsely guaranteeing safety despite containing high levels of mercury.
This beauty cream contains 24,690 ppm of mercury in violation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, based on the XRF screening conducted by the EcoWaste Coalition.
Navia Gluta Bright Beauty Cream with 24,690 ppm of mercury, manufactured in November 2025, claims to be “highly effective” with “no side effects.”
Seven Herbal Beauty Cream with 19,750 ppm of mercury, produced in November 2022, boasts itself as containing “pure herbs” and “the only herbal beauty cream that whitens skin in seven days.”
Sativa Beauty Cream with 17,480 ppm of mercury, made in December 2024, is described as a “product of latest research” containing nigella sativa, among others, which can remove “toxic matters” in the skin, making it attractive and fair with continued use.
Golden Pearl Beauty Cream with Gluta Serum with 16,670 ppm of mercury, manufactured in September 2025, “in new attractive packing” (sic) promises “a visibly brighter, fresher, and more radiant skin.”
Mercury-laced Golden Pearl Beauty Cream has changed its packaging at least 4 times since 2014, but kept its mercury content intact.
The EcoWaste Coalition warned that revamped packaging is merely a cosmetic change, offering no guarantee of safety from mercury. They pointed to Golden Pearl Beauty Cream, which has masked its mercury-tainted formula with at least four different designs since 2014.
To prevent mercury exposure, the EcoWaste Coalition called on consumers to heed these reminders:
1. Embrace your natural skin color and challenge colorism, a form of discrimination or prejudice that favors people with lighter skin. Reject chemical whiteners entirely and take pride in your innate skin complexion.
2. Read product labels carefully and watch out for red flags, including poor labeling information and “too good to be true ” product claims.
3. Watch out for e-commerce listings. Many FDA-flagged products, particularly the three variants of Goree Beauty Cream, are easily obtainable online and in physical stores.
4. Visit the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) verification portal at https://verification.fda.gov.ph/ before adding to cart or making a purchase.
5. Report to the FDA vendors selling unauthorized or flagged skin-lightening products.
6. If you have used skin lightening products from unknown sources or with unknown composition and experience skin rashes, discoloration, and other symptoms, immediately seek medical attention.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Many skin‑lightening products work by reducing melanin levels but often contain hazardous substances such as mercury, which WHO classifies as one of the ten chemicals of major public health concern. Even low‑level exposure to mercury can cause serious health effects, including neurological damage, and poses particular risks to fetal and early childhood development.
“Mercury also contaminates the environment: when products are washed off, mercury enters wastewater systems and persists in soil, water, and ecosystems without breaking down,” the WHO further said.
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