Resources

Skin bleaching is a major health concern among Jamaicans. A common ingredient in skin lightening products is mercury. Mercury is a toxic substance that can cause damage to the gastrointestinal tract, nervous system and kidneys.

CBC's Marketplace tests popular skin-lightening products sold in Canada to find out if the ingredients are as toxic as the marketing. Our investigation reveals some products contain alarming levels of harmful ingredients, including mercury, hydroquinone and steroids. Some of these chemicals are possible carcinogens and can cause severe skin issues with prolonged use.  

Through the Chemical Safety and Health Unit, WHO works to establish the scientific basis for the sound management of chemicals, and to strengthen national capabilities and capacities for chemical safety. Mercury is a chemical of major public health concerns.

In the past few years, FDA and state health officials have discovered numerous products marketed as skin lighteners that contain mercury, and there have been cases in which people exposed to such products have had mercury poisoning or elevated levels of mercury in their bodies.

Therefore, to address this growing challenge, coordinated compliance mechanisms are needed at the local, national, regional and global levels. The ultimate goal of this publication is to improve consumer protection by targeting unsafe products and accelerating their removal from commerce before they are sold to consumers.

Effects of mercury poisoning can be devastating, with symptoms including seizures, memory, vision and hearing loss, and development disorders. Explore mercury's trade routes in this interactive story.

This information sheet provides an overview of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Global Mercury Partnership for prospective partners.

Mercury-containing skin lightening products are hazardous to health and as a result have been banned in many countries. Even in some countries where such products have been banned, they are still advertised and available to consumers via the Internet and other means.

The Oscar award-winning actress' debut kids' book is about a young black girl who doesn’t think she's beautiful.

Read more: https://gma.abc/35xVwb3

The Minamata Convention on Mercury is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury.

The Convention was adopted on 10 October 2013 at Kumamoto (Japan) on the occasion of the Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Minamata Convention on Mercury held from 7 to 11 October 2013 and entered into force on 16 August 2017. 

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This publication was developed to guide health ministries4 in planning measures to implement the health-related articles of the Minamata Convention and to protect public health from exposure to mercury. It will guide health ministries to plan not only obligatory measures under the Convention but voluntary measures as well.

Skin lightening creams & soaps have mercury in them. Mercury is dangerous and bad for people’s health. Mercury in open skin lightening products can also harm other people in the home or store.

Using skin-lightening products is not safe. Most skin-lightening products contain toxic chemicals including mercury. Many skin-lightening products tested in Minnesota and nationwide contained mercury levels that exceeded the current FDA threshold of 1 part per million (ppm).

In May 2019, at its fourteen meeting (COP14), the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention decided to update the technical guidelines on mercury wastes Read more on the Basel Convention website

Stephanie Yeboah started using bleaching creams when she was 14. As part of a new series, Shades of black, she writes about believing her worth was linked to her skin tone and what happened when side-effects kicked in

UN Environment's Toolkit for identification and quantification of mercury releases is intended to assist countries to identify and quantify the sources of mercury releases. With the Toolkit, a comprehensive national mercury releases inventory can be developed.

What are Mercury-added Products? The Minamata Convention on Mercury defines a mercury-added product as a “product or product component that contains mercury or a mercury compound that was intentionally added.”

The toxic trade of often illegal mercury-added skin-lightening products is a global crisis expected to only worsen with skyrocketing demand, especially in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Consistent with other research, a new Zero Mercury Working Group (ZMWG) study indicates that a significant percentage of skin-lightening creams sold worldwide contains dangerous levels of mercury.

Presentation given by Peter Maxson on Custom Codes for Mercury added products given at the Global Mercury Partnership's side event during the Second Conference of Parties (COP 2) of the Minamata Convention. 

Presentation given by Arturo Gavilan Garcia on Survey on Harmonized System Initiative of the Global Mercury Partnership given at the Global Mercury Partnership side event during the Second Conference of Parties (COP2) of the Minamata Convention

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Research on skin whitening products carried out under component III of the UNEP project "Development of Minamata Initial Assessment (MIA)" in Pakistan. This report covers all the details of research work, undertaken on local as well as international brands of Skin Whitening Creams (SWCs) collected from the markets at main cities of Pakistan.

This document outlines proposed revised customs codes for better data and better implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury

Mercury in dental amalgam is a hidden source of global mercury pollution, resulting from the illegal diversion of dental mercury into the artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector, to crematoria emissions from the deceased and sewage sludge that is sold to farmers.