A decade after mercury ban, toxic skin bleachers still offered on top retailers' websites

More than 20 banned skin-bleaching products containing mercury are available for purchase on third-party marketplaces run by Amazon, Temu and TikTok Shop in several countries, despite decades of efforts by health advocates and regulators to prevent their sale, a Reuters review of publicly available information found.

Regulators, companies and multinational entities have for years tried to coordinate efforts to take these products off shelves and websites. More than 150 nations are parties to the 2013 Minamata Convention that banned the manufacture, import or sale of mercury-containing products, which, according to the World Health Organization, can damage the kidneys, brain and nervous system.

But some sellers on e-commerce sites have become more sophisticated in their efforts to hide these products' origins and ingredients. Some products removed from websites are being re-listed under misleading names or by different sellers soon after, the Reuters review found.

Reuters found more than 20 products from banned lists available to customers on Amazon, Temu and TikTok's US e-commerce platforms, as well as on Amazon's third-party marketplaces in France, India, the United Arab Emirates and Belgium, as of 1 September. None of the products list mercury as an ingredient. Reuters couldn't independently confirm the presence of the toxin.

Despite mercury's toxicity, these products find buyers because of their swift effects. Skin lightening is a multibillion-dollar industry, especially popular in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, lawyers, academics and public health advocates noted.

"Mercury gives you lightening effects within days, far faster than legal agents like kojic acid or arbutin," said Winston Morgan, professor of toxicology, equity and inclusive practice at the University of East London's School of Health, Sport and Bioscience. "Mercury is also relatively cheap, easy to formulate into creams, and stable."

A 2021 Boston University study found that skin-lightening products containing kojic acid, a legal cosmetic ingredient, cost an average of $24.89 an ounce, substantially more than the roughly $6.50 an ounce charged for mercury-containing products Reuters found for sale in the United States in mid-September.

The World Health Organization says there is no known safe exposure level for mercury, while the US FDA restricts total mercury to no more than 1 part per million in cosmetics. Many illegal products contain between 10 and 100,000 milligrams per litre, according to Morgan.

Reuters could not independently confirm his figures but British and US regulators, including the UK Office for Product Safety and Standards and the US Food and Drug Administration, have publicly reported products that have tested positive for those levels of mercury.

Available for purchase

A London-based Reuters journalist purchased several allegedly mercury-based products on Amazon's UK, French, Belgian and Indian websites, while a US-based Reuters journalist purchased Pakistani-made Parley Beauty Creams on Temu and TikTok Shop, three brands of Mexican-made bleaching creams on TikTok Shop and bleaching soaps made in the Philippines on Amazon.

None of the manufacturers responded to Reuters requests for comment.

When contacted by Reuters, Amazon, Temu and TikTok said they prohibit the sale of these specific products, saying they were taking steps to remove them from their websites and take action against their sellers. As of 1 September, most of these products were still listed on those websites.

"We have proactive controls in place to maintain a safe and compliant store, including robust seller verification and mandatory compliance documentation or third-party lab testing prior to product listing," said Amazon, which added that it was refining those controls and suspending "evasive sellers."

Amazon also said it works with regulators, government agencies and others to update its lists of banned products as it enhances its controls.

TikTok said it was removing products that violate its rules, which bar products that "aim to bleach, whiten, lighten, or reduce overall melanin in the skin."

Temu also said it would remove certain products after reviewing its listings. "Appropriate action will be taken should a listing be found to violate any applicable laws and, consequently, our platform rules," it said.

An Amazon third-party seller in India had, as of early August, listed 'Beauty Brightening Cream' instead of 'Chandni' cream, one of the products flagged by the FDA, and blurred out the correct name of the product in its accompanying image.

The cream's manufacturer, SJ Enterprises of Pakistan, did not respond to requests for comment.

Amazon did not comment on specific products listed on its sites.

Challenges for platforms

Amazon has struggled to keep mercury-laden creams off its websites, according to public health advocates. It settled a lawsuit in California last year over the presence of those products on its US platform.

The company's US website used to have far more skin-lightening products containing mercury, public health advocates said.

"Part of the problem is the business models of these platforms," said Rachel Doughty, an attorney at Greenfire Law, the firm that fought Amazon for a decade. "Their position for a long time was that they were just a platform and they weren't responsible for what third-party sellers posted on their websites." She added that the laws are "not well enforced by public agencies."

Amazon declined to comment on Doughty's view.

Health regulators acknowledge the challenges of keeping mercury-laden products away from consumers.

The US FDA told Reuters it "is very concerned about these and other fraudulent products, and removing them from the market remains one of the agency's top priorities." It added that the agency has sent warning letters to these manufacturers and distributors to stop these illegal sales.

"WHO is aware that mercury-added skin-lightening products continue to be sold through online and cross-border e-commerce platforms, which can make regulatory oversight and enforcement more challenging," a World Health Organization spokesperson said, adding that more regulation and coordination between governments, sellers and others is needed.

There is some evidence of renewed regulatory efforts. On 28 August, French authorities issued a recall notice warning consumers about a skin-bleaching cream called 'Advanced Beauty Cream - Pearl Shine - Parley Goldie' that Reuters found available in early August. As of 31 August, it was still available on Amazon's Belgian website.

"Mercury is regularly identified in goods for skin lightening," French officials told Reuters in an email, saying e-commerce platforms are required to withdraw such products from sale and recall them. "Its presence is intentional and has the function of blocking the synthesis of melanin, the pigment that gives the skin colour."

"Products identified as non-compliant and unsafe are effectively reported to the platforms or companies concerned," they said.

The US Food and Drug Administration late last year contacted Michael Bender, co-ordinator of the Zero Mercury Working Group, in response to his outreach to them about mercury-containing products seven years earlier, according to an email seen by Reuters.

The agency requested Bender's expertise and a list of products available, including those that may have appeared "under different brand names or packaging." In May, the FDA published a list of skin-lightening creams that it said contain mercury, warning consumers against buying them.