Sold by online stores in India, 'dark truth' of made in Pakistan skin whitening creams

By A Representative
Dangerously high levels of mercury, a heavy metal and neurotoxin, were found in imported skin whitening creams being sold in Indian markets, Toxics Link, a well-known environmental research and advocacy non-profit, has said in its latest report “Dark truth of skin whitening creams: Presence of Mercury in skin whitening creams”.
Based in Delhi, Toxics Link is part of the global alliance of Zero mercury Working Group (ZMWG) and claims to be involved in the mercury policy project. ZMWG is an international coalition of more than 110 public interest environmental and health non-governmental organizations from over 55 countries from around the world formed in 2005 by the European Environmental Bureau and the Mercury Policy Project.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), mercury is hazardous to health and has the potential to cause damage to the central nervous system, the gastrointestinal system and the kidneys. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has also shown concern over the fact that mercury bio-accumulates in the body tissue and its long-term exposure can have impact to the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs and immune system particularly, in unborn children and babies
The NGO research team enlisted 15 skin whitening creams of different brands manufactured in India, Pakistan and Philippines. The samples were collected from different cities of India, Mumbai, Vijayawada, Delhi and Trivandrum, and tested in the Shriram Institute for Industrial Research, New Delhi, using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) by a standardized method.
The study detected mercury in six out of 15 samples. Five samples had alarming levels of mercury ranging from 4,000 to 14,000 ppm. Only one out of six samples had mercury concentration below 1 ppm, i.e., 0.3 ppm. The samples were purchased from Gaffer market in Delhi, Vashi in Navi Mumbai and Tarapet Market in Vijayawada.
The study also revealed that all the six samples containing mercury were manufactured in Pakistan, according to the labels in the packaging. Moreover, the test results revealed that all the samples manufactured in India had mercury below detectable limits.
In India, there is a stringent regulation, under the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 2020, to prevent mercury from being added to cosmetics. Manufacturing and import of cosmetics containing mercury compounds are completely prohibited; but unintentional mercury is allowed up to 1 ppm. However, the study regretted, the mercury-containing products are still available in the Indian market. India has also ratified the Minamata convention on Mercury which restricts mercury use in cosmetics to 1 ppm.
Said the study, it is disturbing that the mercury concentrations in some of the imported samples were found to be as high as 1,000 times more than the current permissible limit of 1 ppm. Significantly, a previous study by Toxics Link in 2019 had also reported high mercury concentrations in same brands, it added.

The 6 samples in which mercury was reported were imported creams from Pakistan, available in online portals like Amazon and Flipkart

The 2019 samples were purchased from the online portals Amazon and Flipkart. The study also found that, apart from these brands, other high mercury containing brands manufactured in the countries like China, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia were also found to be available in India through these online portals.
Thus, it is clear that the mercury-laden creams are easily available in the country and are being sold both in offline shops and on online portals despite the strict regulations in place to contain mercury in cosmetics, the study said.
“Availability of highly toxic and non-compliant products in shops and on online portals are serious breach of the national rules and need to be acted upon immediately by the regulators” said Satish Sinha, Associate Director, Toxics Link.
The use of these products could result in severe health risks. Therefore, there is an urgent need for periodic monitoring of imported skin whitening creams by the regulatory authorities, to safeguard the health of the consumers. “A proper surveillance system needs to be in place to prevent high mercury-containing toxic skin whitening creams to be imported to India.” said Piyush Mohapatra, senior programme coordinator, Toxics Link.

Key findings

Mercury was reported in six out of fifteen skin whitening cream samples purchased from Mumbai, Delhi, Trivandrum, and Vijayawa
Five samples were found to contain very high mercury concentrations (4000 to 14000 ppm)
One sample had a mercury concentration of 0.3 ppm, i.e., below the permissible limit of 1 ppm
All the six samples in which mercury was reported were imported creams from Pakistan and are also available in online portals like Amazon and Flipkart
All the Indian manufactured brands are within the safe limit of 1 ppm of mercury.

Comments

The silencing of conscience: Ideological attacks on India’s judiciary and free thought

By Sunil Kumar* “Volunteers will pick up sticks to remove every obstacle that comes in the way of Sanatan and saints’ work.” — RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat (November 6, 2024, Chitrakoot) Eleven months later, on October 6, 2025, a man who threw a shoe inside the Supreme Court shouted, “India will not tolerate insults to Sanatan.” This incident was not an isolated act but a continuation of a pattern seen over the past decade—attacks on intellectuals, writers, activists, and journalists, sometimes in the name of institutions, sometimes by individual actors or organizations.

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Citizens’ group to recall Justice Chagla’s alarm as India faces ‘undeclared' Emergency

By A Representative In a move likely to raise eyebrows among the powers-that-be, a voluntary organisation founded during the “dark days” of the Indira Gandhi -imposed Emergency has announced that it will hold a public conference in Ahmedabad to highlight what its office-bearers call today’s “undeclared Emergency.”

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

World Bank arm accused of hiding crucial report on Gujarat’s Tata Mundra power project

By A Representative The Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) has accused the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), the accountability arm of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), of concealing crucial evidence related to the Tata Mundra coal power project in Gujarat during the period when the case was being heard in U.S. courts. In a press statement released on October 10, 2025, CFA said that the CAO’s final monitoring report, which was completed in 2019 but released only in September 2025, revealed that IFC had failed to take remedial action for years, even as environmental and livelihood harms to local communities worsened.

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

Search This Blog