EcoWaste Coalition backs tighter enforcement of the global ban on mercury use in cosmetics under the Minamata Convention
20 August 2026, Quezon City. At least eight of the skin-lightening products found to contain mercury in a skincare survey conducted in New York City, USA, can be obtained online, the EcoWaste Coalition warned.
The toxic watchdog group alerted online shoppers, as well as e-commerce administrators and regulators, about the online sale of these hazardous products with mercury following the publication on August 15 of a report in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology.
The report “Mercury in Skin Lightening and Skin Care Products Purchased in New York City, 2009-2022” analyzed the mercury concentrations of 197 products as part of public health investigations. The products were procured from retail stores located in neighborhoods with densely populated West African, East Asian, South Asian, Latino, and Caribbean communities
Aligning with the said study, the EcoWaste Coalition emphasized the need for a tighter global enforcement of the Minamata Convention on Mercury to protect communities and ecosystems.
Some of the products found to contain toxic mercury in a New York study can be obtained from online sellers, according to the EcoWaste Coalition’s market monitoring
According to the report, mercury was detected in 29 percent of products, and 18 percent contained mercury above the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s permissible limit of 1 part per million (ppm) for mercury in cosmetics. Eleven of these products had mercury concentrations above 10,000 ppm, with a maximum concentration of 27,000 ppm. All products containing mercury were manufactured abroad, and only 4 percent of product labels listed mercury as an ingredient.
Eight of the mercury-containing products sold in New York City can also be obtained online, as confirmed by ongoing market monitoring conducted by the EcoWaste Coalition to support enforcement of the Minamata Convention and subsequently reported to the Philippine FDA.
These are Pakistan-made Chandni Whitening Cream, Due Beauty Cream, Face Fresh Beauty Cream, Faiza Beauty Cream, Golden Pearl Beauty Cream, Goree Beauty Cream with Lycopene, Sandal Whitening Beauty Cream, and Seven Herbal Ubtan Cream.
The Philippine FDA has already flagged some of these products for containing mercury and/or for lacking market authorization.
The FDA issued public health warnings against the purchase and use of Golden Pearl Beauty Cream in 2014 (old packaging) and 2021 (new packaging). It flagged Goree Beauty Cream in 2017, Faiza Beauty Cream and Sandal Beauty Cream in 2024, and Due Beauty Cream and Face Fresh Beauty Cream in 2026.
Despite the FDA-issued public health warnings, third-party online sellers continue to import, distribute, advertise, and sell the above mercury-laden products, especially Goree Beauty Cream, which is now offered in five variants, such as Goree Beauty Cream with Lycopene, Goree Day & Night Beauty Cream, Goree Gold 24K Beauty Cream, Goree Gold 3-in-1 Beauty Kit, and Goree 4-in-1 Beauty Kit.
According to the report’s authors: “Our results suggest that as long as skin lightening and skin care products containing mercury are being manufactured in other countries, they will continue to be sold illegally in NYC and elsewhere in the U.S.”
“The development of stricter regulations and improved enforcement of existing regulations is needed at the national and international level, especially in countries where skin lightening and skin care products containing mercury are manufactured and exported,” the report said.
“The companies manufacturing these products should be held accountable for intentionally adding high amounts of mercury as an active ingredient in skin lightening and skin care products without consideration of the health risks mercury poses,” the report added.
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References:
Fitzstevens, M., Alex-Oni, K., Sedlar, S., Patel, K., & Hore, P. (2026). Mercury in skin lightening and skin care products purchased in New York City, 2009-2022. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-026-00961-9
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-026-00961-9
https://www.fda.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/FDA-Advisory-No.-2013-053-A.pdf
https://www.fda.gov.ph/fda-advisory-no-2021-3060-public-health-warning-against-the-purchase-and-use-of-unauthorized-cosmetic-golden-pearl-beauty-cream/
https://www.fda.gov.ph/fda-advisory-no-2024-0908-public-health-warning-against-the-purchase-and-use-of-unnotified-cosmetic-faiza-beauty-cream/
https://www.fda.gov.ph/fda-advisory-no-2024-0899-public-health-warning-against-the-purchase-and-use-of-unnotified-cosmetic-sandal-beauty-cream/
