Over 20 international health and environmental organizations have called on Pakistan’s Competition Commission (CCP) to halt the manufacture and global trade of mercury-containing skin-whitening creams. The move intensifies scrutiny of the country’s cosmetics manufacturing sector, after a recent testing round found that 35 of 37 creams manufactured in Pakistan contained mercury levels thousands of times higher than the legal limit.  Read the full post  

As we celebrate International Women’s Month, toxics watchdog BAN Toxics has issued a consumer alert on the illegal sale of prohibited beauty products containing mercury—a highly toxic heavy metal that poses serious risks to the nervous, digestive, and immune systems. Read the complete post

A court in India has given the death penalty to a man for burning alive his wife over her skin colour. In her statements before her death, Lakshmi had said that her husband Kishandas "routinely taunted her for being dark skinned". Read the full post

The next time you apply that skin-lightening cream or your eye makeup, think again. It might contain the harmful chemical element mercury. The Government of India is now even mulling a ban on mercury-based cosmetics owing to the dangers they pose to the human body. Read the full post

At its 69th Council Meeting, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) approved a new work program that includes three major mercury-related projects across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2 June 2025 — In an effort to strengthen global efforts on mercury monitoring and control, a weeklong series of technical trainings and coordination events is underway from 2–6 June 2025 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is implementing a Japan-funded project called “Project for promoting the Minamata Convention on Mercury by making the most of Japan's knowledge and experiences” to support its member states for the implementation of the Convention. The project has a special focus on the area of information exchange, awareness and education, research, development, and monitoring.