Global and local e-commerce portals are allegedly selling here skin-lightening products (SLPs) with a high level of mercury, disclosed a study on Thursday.
Some 271 online products, including skin items of six platforms, were tested from 17 countries.
Of the SLPs tested, 129 were found to have mercury levels over 1.0 parts per million (ppm).
Nearly half the products contained too much mercury while some had thousands of times more mercury than the legal limit, the study said.
The new research was done by the Zero Mercury Working Group (ZMWG), a global NGO coalition working to eliminate mercury uses, releases and exposure.
Between 2017 and 2022, it conducted three separate investigations, each time confirming continued global access to illegal, high-mercury skin lighteners.
The global market for SLPs is estimated at $8.8 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $11.8 billion by 2026.
In some populations, more than 50 per cent of individuals use SLPs regularly.
One analysis estimated that 27.7-per cent individuals globally have used them at one time or another.
Around half of the lighteners bought on eBay, Shopee, Jiji and Flipkart were found to contain mercury concentrations over 1.0 ppm, the legal limit established by many governments and the Minamata Convention on Mercury, it claimed.
"Despite being illegal, our findings show the same high mercury skin lighteners continued to be offered for sale on internet," said Michael Bender, mercury policy project director and ZMWG co-coordinator.
"What's illegal domestically should be illegal online. E-commerce must be held to the same standards," he added.
Most of the products sampled were manufactured in Asia, especially in Pakistan (43 per cent), Thailand (8.0 per cent), China (6.0 per cent) and Taiwan (4.0 per cent), according to their packaging.
ZMWG member from Bangladesh, Dr Shahriar Hossein, says these hazardous and illegal products pose a serious mercury exposure risk, especially to repeat users and their children.
"We welcome the opportunity to work collaboratively with the authorities to stop the toxic trade in high mercury skin lightening creams," he adds.
Mercury is used in skin lighteners as it inhibits melanin and results in a lighter skin tone. The regular use of SLPs containing mercury can lead to rashes, skin discoloration and blotching.
Long-term exposure may damage the eyes, lungs, kidneys, digestive, immune and nervous systems. 137 countries have committed to the Minamata convention to phase out and limit mercury, including in cosmetics.
