73toinsanity,paralysis,anddeath.Birthdefectsfollowed.
Thedisasterwasa watershedmoment,toa point.Thedump-
ingstopped,inMinamataandelsewhere,andtheworldbecame
awareofmercurypoisoninginseafood.Yetindustrialandcon-
sumeruses—fromthermometerstolightbulbsandbatteries—
continue.Ingoldmining,forexample,it’susedtoseparate
goldfromoreina processthat,if nothandledcorrectly,leads
tomercurypollution.
Thelinebetweenskinlightenersthatcontainmercuryand
thosethatdon’tis generallyaneconomicone.Globalcosmet-
icscompaniesdon’tusemercury;theirlighteningproducts
typicallycontainderivativesofVitaminC andhydroquinone
thatcantemporarilyimpedemelaninproductionandaren’t
considereddangerousinsmallamounts.Buttheadcampaigns
fortheseproductsdoa lottofueldemand.Lower-incomecon-
sumerswhocan’tafforda jarofL’OréalParisWhitePerfect
($11.50inthePhilippines)aredrawntocheaperproductsthat
dothemharm.
InPakistan lastyearthegovern-
mentconductedteststhatfoundjust
3 of 59 productshadmercurylevels
below1ppm.(Itdidn’tdisclosebrand
names.)A 2017studyinTrinidadand
Tobagofoundsignificantmercurylev-
elsinall 15 productstested.
The modern mercury whitening
problemisdeeplytiedtohistoriccul-
turalissues,fromclasstocolonialism,
thatvarybycountryandcontinent.Skin
lighteningis particularlyvaluedinsoci-
etieswithhistoricalclassdistinctions
betweenthosewhotoiledinthefields
andtheelitewhocouldaffordtostayout
ofthesun.Colonialismmadeit worse.
InthePhilippines,forexample, 300
yearsofSpanishandthenAmericanrule
reinforceda notionofbeautyaswhite
andtalland“thePhilippinebodyasinfe-
rior,becauseit’sshortanddark,”says
AndoyEvangelista,a sociologistatthe
UniversityofthePhilippines.“There’s
stilla lotofaffirmationofwhitenessas
beautifulinthePhilippines.”
The mercury scars on Grace
Reguyal’s skin aren’tapparentat a
glance.Butwhen shetiltsherhead
upandrunsherhandfromherear,
downherneck,andthentohercollar-
bone,thepockmarkscomeintoview.
Ona dayinJuly,the27-year-oldfor-
mercallcenterworkersatona sofain
herhouseinthesmallPhilippinecity
ofMalolosas her3-year-old played
nearby. “When you are whiter in
thePhilippines,youaremuchpret-
tier,”Reguyalsaid.“That’sthestereo-
typeofthepeopleinthePhilippines.”
She posts selfies frequently on
Facebook—thesamewebsitewhereshefound 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.
Goreecreamsare availableon
Amazonviaindependentresellers,
too.Tariq,the Goree executive,
saidhecouldn’tvouchforGoree-
labeledproductsnotboughtdirectly
fromthecompany.ThebestChinese
counterfeitsaresoconvincing,he
said,that“evenwecannottellsome-
times.”Thecompanysenttheresults
of a test bythe 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