73to insanity, paralysis, and death. Birth defects followed.
The disaster was a watershed moment, to a point. The dump-
ing stopped, in Minamata and elsewhere, and the world became
aware of mercury poisoning in seafood. Yet industrial and con-
sumer uses—from thermometers to lightbulbs and batteries—
continue. In gold mining, for example, it’s used to separate
gold from ore in a process that, if not handled correctly, leads
to mercury pollution.
The line between skin lighteners that contain mercury and
those that don’t is generally an economic one. Global cosmet-
ics companies don’t use mercury; their lightening products
typically contain derivatives of Vitamin C and hydroquinone
that can temporarily impede melanin production and aren’t
considered dangerous in small amounts. But the ad campaigns
for these products do a lot to fuel demand. Lower-income con-
sumers who can’t afford a jar of L’Oréal Paris White Perfect
($11.50 in the Philippines) are drawn to cheaper products that
do them harm.
In Pakistan last year the govern-
ment conducted tests that found just
3 of 59 products had mercury levels
below 1ppm. (It didn’t disclose brand
names.) A 2017 study in Trinidad and
Tobago found significant mercury lev-
els in all 15 products tested.
The modern mercury whitening
problem is deeply tied to historic cul-
tural issues, from class to colonialism,
that vary by country and continent. Skin
lightening is particularly valued in soci-
eties with historical class distinctions
between those who toiled in the fields
and the elite who could afford to stay out
of the sun. Colonialism made it worse.
In the Philippines, for example, 300
years of Spanish and then American rule
reinforced a notion of beauty as white
and tall and “the Philippine body as infe-
rior, because it’s short and dark,” says
Andoy Evangelista, a sociologist at the
University of the Philippines. “There’s
still a lot of affirmation of whiteness as
beautiful in the Philippines.”
The mercury scars on Grace
Reguyal’s skin aren’t apparent at a
glance. But when she tilts her head
up and runs her hand from her ear,
down her neck, and then to her collar-
bone, the pockmarks come into view.
On a day in July, the 27-year-old for-
mer call center worker sat on a sofa in
her house in the small Philippine city
of Malolos as her 3-year-old played
nearby. “When you are whiter in
the Philippines, you are much pret-
tier,” Reguyal said. “That’s the stereo-
type of the people in the Philippines.”
She posts selfies frequently on
Facebook—the same website where shefound the products that changed her life. Last year she bought
products labeled as Goree Beauty Cream with Lycopene and
Goree whitening soap, and used them daily for three weeks.
She developed a rash on her face and neck, and it spread to
her child through skin contact. Some of her Facebook posts
now warn others to be aware and encourage people to be
happy with the skin color they have.
Many of the products identified by EcoWaste as having the
highest concentrations of mercury are freely advertised on EBay,
Amazon, and Facebook. Those companies have rules requir-
ing sellers to comply with local laws, but it’s a game of whack-
a-mole. For example, Feique, a cream from China, is available
on EBay. The description says the cream “contains minerals.”
EcoWaste’s ray gun detected 19,200ppm and 14,300ppm of mer-
cury in Feique day and night creams, respectively. A letter sent
to the manufacturer at the Guangzhou address on the packag-
ing was returned as having an incorrect address, and no addi-
tional contact information could be
found. In response to an inquiry from
Bloomberg, EBay said it would remove
the Feique products and add them to
a screener list.
Goree creams are available on
Amazon via independent resellers,
too. Tariq, the Goree executive,
said he couldn’t vouch for Goree-
labeled products not bought directly
from the company. The best Chinese
counterfeits are so convincing, he
said, that “even we cannot tell some-
times.” The company sent the results
of a test by the government-run
Pakistan Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research. Goree Beauty
Cream with Lycopene passed.
Tariq also shipped what he called
authentic samples to Bloomberg’s
Hong Kong office. They were tested by
the Hong Kong Standards and Testing
Centre. The Goree products failed:
Goree Beauty Cream with Lycopene
contained 5,430ppm of mercury; Day
& Night Whitening Cream had 43ppm.
Tariq said those findings were “impos-
sible” and disputed the test results.
The X-ray vigilantes know their
missions have limits. Because of them,
shops in Manila sometimes keep the
blacklisted brands behind counters,
which discourages all but the most
committed consumers from buy-
ing them. But the black market finds
ways. Many of the banned creams
that reach the Philippines are sent
home from overseas workers in places
like the Middle East, inside personal
boxes of goods for their families. They
then end up with online resellers. <BW>
——With Claire Jiao and Matt DayBloomberg Businessweek / SEPTEMBER 2, 2019 THE ELEMENTS
Images from advertisements for skin-lightening products