NY bans cosmetics and personal care products containing mercury, “big win” for environmental justice
06 Feb 2023 --- The state of New York, US, is prohibiting the sale of cosmetics and beauty products containing mercury in stores and online as governor Kathy Hochul signed the bill into its final status at the end of last year.
The bill is justified on the basis that lighter skin is often marketed as a desirable beauty standard, which reinforces a bias against darker skin tones – leaving people of color more vulnerable to the harms of mercury-based products.
The mercury ban in cosmetics and personal care will be effective starting June 2023.
Mercury is a persistent neurotoxin that can cause health adversities, including kidney damage, psychosis and peripheral neuropathy, says We Act for Environmental Justice, an NGO combating environmental racism.
Despite its harms, the organization flags that mercury is still used as a preservative in creams designed to lighten skin color.
Skin lighteners are estimated to be worth US$31.2 billion by 2024, according to the Senate Bill and are based on the perpetuation of racist beauty standards, says We Act. The community blames the inconsistencies in ingredient labeling, which leads to unaware consumers applying the mercury product.
“People of color are exposed to disproportionately high levels of toxics, so removing mercury as an ingredient in personal care products is a big win for environmental justice for New York,” says Sonal Jessel, director of policy at We Act and co-lead of the JustGreen Partnership.
“We thank Governor Hochul for signing this legislation. We thank the bill sponsors, Senator Samra Brouk and Assemblywoman Karines Reyes, for their leadership in getting this through the state legislature. And we thank the JustGreen Partnership and the other organizations and advocates who join us in making this happen.”
Mercury salts stop melanin production and are marketed for skin lightening.
The New York State Senate identifies mercury as elemental mercury hg, mercuric iodide, mercury oxide, mercurous chloride, ethyl mercury, phenyl mercuric salts, ammoniated mercury, amide chloride of mercury, mercury sulfide or cinnabaris or mercury iodide.
Exposing eurocentric beauty marketing
The harms of mercury are well known and officials are protesting against its use in personal care based on toxicity to human and environmental health while highlighting the disproportion of harms faced by people of color.
“Mercury exposure can cause rashes and damage to vital internal organs – this life-threatening chemical has no place in our cosmetics,” says Samra Brouk, New York State senator who worked with assembly member Karines Reyes to pass the legislation.
“Since mercury salts stop melanin production, mercury poisoning disproportionately impacts women of color using mercury-containing skin-lightening creams in pursuit of colorist beauty standards.”
Reyes emphasizes the neurotoxicity of mercury and should not be something to apply on the skin. “Yet many use skin lightening creams containing mercury, striving for a Eurocentric beauty model marketed to people of color as aggressively as these products are.”
Moreover, she says that manufacturers have not had to list mercury among product ingredients – “and many use different names for it when they do.”
“New York has a diverse population of Black, Indigenous and other People of Color who use more personal care cosmetics than their white counterparts, especially those that are marketed toward achieving archaic Eurocentric beauty standards,” adds Bobbi Wilding, executive director of Clean+Healthy.
Officials express support
Mercury has irreversible neurotoxic effects that can cause changes to hearing and vision, memory problems and tingling of the hands and feet, says Wilding. The bill will help many cosmetics and personal care users who are unaware of the presence of mercury in their daily routine.
The mercury ban in cosmetics and personal care will be effective starting June 2023.
“Many consumers are unaware of this heavy metal in their personal care products and are unknowingly at risk of the health implications of its use.”
Moreover, the chemical is “extremely harmful” to waterways and air when it is washed away after using it in lipsticks, creams or powders, according to Caitlin Ferrante, conservation program manager, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter.
“If mercury is too toxic to allow in our thermostats, our dental products, and the floors in our children’s schools, then it shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near our skincare products,” states Patrick McClellan, policy director at the New York League of Conservation Voters.
The bill will increase the safety of personal care products sold in New York, establish penalties for violators and promote more transparent and consistent labeling of product ingredients.
Last April, Zero Mercury Working Group flagged that almost 50% of skin-lightening products sold in major online retail channels have high mercury levels, despite mercury’s harmful properties. The significance of this discovery prompted responses from e-commerce giants, including Amazon, eBay and Flipkart – whose skincare product offerings were implicated.
By Venya Patel
