The EcoWaste Coalition bared on Monday, April 26 the illegal domestic sale of five brands of mercury-laden “beauty creams” from Pakistan.

According to the environmental health watchdog, the "smuggled" skin whitening products have as much as 16,900 times the trace amount limit of one part per million (ppm) under the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Cosmetic Directive and the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

"Our discovery of more contraband skin whitening creams laced with mercury justifies the need for nonstop public education, law enforcement and other interventions to break the supply and demand for these poison cosmetics,” EcoWaste Coalition Chemical Safety Campaigner Thony Dizon said in a statement.

Dizon revealed that the items were purchased for P100 to P350 per unit from a mall retailer in Pasay City. A subsequent check by the group also found one of the products (Golden Pearl Beauty Cream in new and old packaging) being traded online.

Using a handheld X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer, the group found that Parley Goldie Advanced Beauty Cream was laced with 16,915 ppm of mercury; AQME Beauty Cream with 16,000; Golden Pearl Beauty Cream (new packaging) with 10,200 ppm; Safora Beauty Cream with 6,410 ppm; and Morning Face Beauty Cream with 5,696 ppm of mercury.

The products are sold illegally, the EcoWaste Coalition said, since their manufacturers, importers, or distributors have not secured the required cosmetic product notifications from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prior to placing or selling them in the domestic market.

The group also scored the exaggerated and outlandish claims written on the products' packaging and inserts.

For example, Golden Pearl declares it “is the only cream in the world which in a very short time makes you look beautiful", while Parley Goldie say it offers a single solution to 10 problems such as “stain and spots, dark neck, dark fingers, black heads, dark elbow, side effects of make up, wrinkles and freckles, dark feet, pimples, dark circles".

Despite its mercury content, AQME Beauty Cream insists it can “provide 100 results with no side effects.”

The World Health Organization (WHO)-published “Mercury in Skin Lightening Products” identified the following as adverse health effects of mercury in some skin whitening products: kidney damage, skin rashes, skin discoloration and scarring, reduction in the skin’s resistance to bacterial and fungal infections, anxiety, depression, psychosis, and peripheral neuropathy.

To prevent exposure to mercury in skincare products, the EcoWaste Coalition urged the public to take pride in their natural skin color and avoid chemical whiteners, stressing that “natural is beautiful.” “We also see the need to counter the deep-seated misbelief that white skin is ABC -- attractive, beautiful and cleaner -- compared to dark skin. Colorism or skin color bias has to go!" Dizon said.