Eliminating Mercury-added Skin Lightening Products

Mercury-added skin-lightening products (SLPs) are:

harmful cosmetics that are marketed to lighten skin or remove blemishes
often have deceptively labeled ingredients
damaging to skin and liver, as well as through ingestion and inhalation
banned under the Minamata Convention on Mercury

BRI works with the United Nations Environment Programme, World Health Organization, Zero Mercury Working Group and partners to eliminate the use of mercury-added SLPs and promote a world with #mercuryfreecosmetics.

Our Global Initiatives

Gabon, Jamaica, and Sri Lanka

Funded by the Global Environment Facility, project 10810 “Eliminating Mercury-added Skin Lightening Products – Gabon, Jamaica, and Sri Lanka” wrapped up in 2026, led by UNEP and co-executed by BRI and WHO. The project focused on:

assessing national legal frameworks,
developing monitoring strategies for local markets,
building capacity for customs officers,
raising public awareness about the toxic health effects of inorganic mercury

Explore results of the project: SLP analysis

Read more about BRI's role:

Africa

Expanding on the momentum of the GEF 10810 project with actions such as the Libreville Commitment, the Africa initiative brings together 13 countries (Burkina Faso, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guinea, Madagascar, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Togo, and Uganda) to work regionally and nationally to phase out mercury-added SLPs.

Project countries will pilot national activities across several priorities:

Enhancing national laboratory capacities
Establishing standardized enforcement protocols
Expanding community outreach activities
Implementing waste management activities
Scaling up cosmetic sampling and testing
Strengthening the capacity of Customs and law enforcement officers

Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean

This work also expands to:

Antigua and Barbuda
Cambodia
Mexico
Pakistan
The Philippines

Resources and Tools

To support knowledge sharing, BRI has developed a variety of materials related to mercury-added SLPs, including customs training, sampling protocols, and meeting summaries. Please explore all available materials below.

Customs Training

Cosmetic Sampling and Analysis Protocol

Meeting Summaries and Reports

Customs and law enforcement have an incredibly important role in ensuring trade shipments meet national and international regulations and standards. BRI supports partners in training and capacity building to ensure officers have the knowledge and tools they need.

Scientific monitoring requires highly accurate, standardized methodologies. BRI developed these step-by-step protocols to ensure that when partners collect and analyze cosmetics for mercury concentrations, the resulting data are globally comparable and scientifically sound.

National and regional meetings create collaborative platforms to discuss project activities among groups of stakeholders.

Explore more resources in our Science Communications Library!