Courtney Bourgoin, courtney.bourgoin@sierraclub.org
San Jose, CA-- Today, the Sierra Club, Zero Mercury Working Group and The Beautywell Project called on eBay to permanently remove the skin lightening products on their website that contain illegal levels of mercury. The company told media outlets that the products were removed last week-- after the organizations released a new set of test results listing the creams containing mercury. The organizations confirmed that most of these products, including Chandni Whitening Cream, Sandal Whitening Beauty Cream, Whitening Pearl and SnowLotus Cream, Goree Day & Night Skin Whitening Beauty Cream and Face Fresh Beauty Cream, remain online and for sale.
In a call to action, representatives of the organizations released the following statements:
“eBay pledged to remove illegal high mercury cosmetics we had previously tested. However, several are online again,” said Michael Bender, Zero Mercury Working Group Coordinator. “eBay must not only remove but keep dangerous products off their website.”
“These skin lightening products expose communities of color to intense levels of mercury and impact their health outcomes especially women and children,” said Amira Adawe of the Beautywell Project. “This practice was inherited from colonization-- where historically people were taught to dislike their skin color. Selling these products sends message to people of color to change their skin color, this has to end. We need a strong regulatory system that will hold companies accountable.”
“Internet retailers must enact long-term measures to keep these harmful products out of their inventories,” said Sonya Lunder, Senior Toxics Policy Advisor for the Sierra Club. “Fortunately, eBay and Amazon have already pledged to keep these products offline in their European markets. We want those protections applied here in the U.S. and globally.”
BACKGROUND:
Mercury is a highly toxic chemical and illegal at concentrations above one part per million in body care products. Tests show some of these imported products include 30,000 to 40,000 times the legal limit. These products are sold to immigrant women and the high levels of mercury can cause serious health damages for people who regularly apply these creams to their skin. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as some state and city governments, have taken efforts to remove these toxic and illegal products from store shelves. Still, recent testing by Sierra Club and Mercury Policy Project found 15 illegal products for sale online. See the full 2019 testing results here.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.