{"id":3795,"date":"2023-11-07T16:33:35","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T21:33:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/weact.org\/updates\/united-nations-convention-agrees-to-phase-mercury-out-of-cosmetics-by-2025\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T17:28:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T22:28:31","slug":"united-nations-convention-agrees-to-phase-mercury-out-of-cosmetics-by-2025","status":"publish","type":"update","link":"https:\/\/weact.org\/es\/updates\/united-nations-convention-agrees-to-phase-mercury-out-of-cosmetics-by-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"United Nations Convention Agrees to Phase Mercury Out of Cosmetics by 2025"},"template":"","class_list":["post-3795","update","type-update","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","update_type-press-release","person_tax-micaela-martinez"],"acf":{"details":{"":null,"featured_image":5221,"update_type":[366],"focus_area":false,"authors":[179],"abstract":""},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"<p><strong>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/strong><br \/>\r\nNovember 7, 2023<br \/>\r\nMedia Contacts:<\/p>\r\n<p>Avipsa Mahapatra<br \/>\r\nEIA US Campaign Director<br \/>\r\nEnvironmental Investigation Agency<br \/>\r\n<a href=\"mailto:amahapatra@eia-global.org\">amahapatra@eia-global.org<\/a><\/p>\r\n<p>Michael T. Bender<br \/>\r\nZero Mercury Working Group<br \/>\r\n<a href=\"mailto:mercurypolicy@gmail.com\">mercurypolicy@gmail.com<\/a><br \/>\r\n+1-802-917-8222<\/p>\r\n<p>Chris Dobens<br \/>\r\nWE ACT for Environmental Justice<br \/>\r\n<a href=\"mailto:chris@weact.org\">chris@weact.org<\/a><br \/>\r\n718-679-8542<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>GENEVA<\/strong> \u2013 Last week, 147 Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury, which is hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme, gathered in Geneva for the fifth <a href=\"https:\/\/minamataconvention.org\/en\/meetings\/cop5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Conference of the Parties<\/a> (COP-5) and <a href=\"https:\/\/media.un.org\/en\/asset\/k1s\/k1s3ssp7mj\">adopted a 2025 treaty phase-out date for mercury-added cosmetics<\/a>. COP-5 decisions also seek to address the manufacture and trade in mercury compounds and mercury-added cosmetics. These proposals were set forth by the African region, Canada, and the United States, respectively.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cBanning mercury-added cosmetics will help foster compliance, especially for Parties from Global South and facilitate more cost-effective market surveillance through handheld testing devices\u2014rather than having to rely on lab testing,\u201d said Michael Bender, Co-coordinator of the Zero Mercury Working Group (ZMWG). \u201cWe also applaud the U.S. proposal for commissioning a report for COP-6 addressing topics such as phasing out sales and strategies for discouraging advertising.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p>Under the existing Convention text, cosmetics with mercury concentrations above 1 ppm should have been phased out by 2020. However, the continued production and trade of these toxic skin lighteners has presented enforcement challenges, as detailed last month in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zeromercury.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/ZMWG-SLP-Oct-2023-Full-Report.pdf\">new ZMWG Report<\/a>. This was further reinforced when the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) released an <a href=\"https:\/\/us.eia.org\/report\/mercury-in-retrograde\/\">undercover investigation<\/a> last month that identified ammoniated mercury as one of the key mercury compounds that is being intentionally added to skin lighteners.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cFor too long, communities of color have suffered from toxic skin lighteners, which despite controls under the Convention, continue to be produced globally,\u201d said EIA US Campaign Director, Avipsa Mahapatra. \u201cLast week Parties took decisive action to strengthen enforcement and close the door on these dangerous cosmetics, rooted in racism and colorism.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p>The EIA report identified chemical companies, including in the U.S. and Europe, that sell ammoniated mercury to cosmetics manufacturers in Thailand, Jamaica, and Pakistan, who then add this toxic compound into skin lightening products that are subsequently shipped and sold around the world, often through online sales. The new reports commissioned at COP-5 will investigate the production and trade of mercury compounds and gather information to better understand the enforcement challenges of banning the manufacture and trade of toxic skin lighteners.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cIn New York City, we are seeing skin lighteners with mercury levels up to 27,000 ppm,\u201d said Dr. Micaela Martinez, Director of Environmental Health, WE ACT for Environmental Justice.\u00a0\u201cMercury-added skin lighteners are both an environmental justice and a reproductive justice issue. Mercury is a neurotoxin that can harm the health of the person exposed, but it can also impact the developing fetus during pregnancy and can be trans-generationally transferred through breast milk.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p>Targeted advertising, social media, and peer pressure can push people of color to embrace Eurocentric standards that favor \u201clighter\u201d skin.\u00a0 These beauty standards not only cause societal and psychological harm to health and well-being, but also present serious health risks not only to the user but those living in the same dwelling due to mercury\u2019s ability to vaporize and spread.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"># # #<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>WE ACT for Environmental Justice<\/strong> is a Northern Manhattan membership-based organization whose mission is to build healthy communities by ensuring that people of color and\/or low-income residents participate meaningfully in the creation of sound and fair environmental health and protection policies and practices. WE ACT has offices in New York and Washington, D.C. Visit us at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weact.org\/\">weact.org<\/a> and follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/weactforej\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/weact4ej\">Twitter\/X<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/weact4ej\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n","include_drop_cap":false}}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>United Nations Convention Agrees to Phase Mercury Out of Cosmetics by 2025 - WE ACT for Environmental Justice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/weact.org\/es\/updates\/united-nations-convention-agrees-to-phase-mercury-out-of-cosmetics-by-2025\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_ES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"United Nations Convention Agrees to Phase Mercury Out of Cosmetics by 2025 - 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