When Iya Kandes youngest son turned two months old, she began using a skin-lightening soap on his face and body.
Kande, whose last name has been changed to protect her identity, lives in northern Nigeria. She was hoping a fairer complexion would ingratiate the boy with his grandmother, who like many in the region had come to equate light skin with beauty.
But within weeks, the childs skin began to blister and break out in rashes. It wasnt until months later that Kande learned the cause. The soap was laced with mercury.
If I had known how hazardous it was, I never would have bought it, says Kande, who used the soap on five of her other children.
She is one of hundreds of millions of people around the world, some studies suggest, who use or have used cosmetics containing mercury. These products, widely available without a prescription, can lighten skin but also cause a range of health problems, from rashes to kidney failure.
The fervour for mercury-based cosmetics is being driven by an embrace of beauty standards many a legacy of the colonial era that prize lighter skin, say observers. But some are cautiously optimistic that things may be changing. They point to a rise in grassroots efforts to counter so-called colourism and a recent global ban on mercury-laced cosmetics.
The addition of mercury to cosmetics has created a public health crisis one that too often is overlooked, says Monika Stankiewicz, the Executive Secretary of the Minamata Convention, a global treaty designed to protect people and the environment from mercury. But there is a growing desire to stamp out these products, which is crucial to safeguarding the health and welfare of countless people around the world.
A booming industry
Skin-lightening cosmetics represent one of the fastest growing parts of the beauty industry. In 2023, the sector was worth US$9 billion, a number expected to reach US$16 billion by 2032, according to market research firm Fortune Business Insights.
Skin-lightening soaps and creams are especially popular in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. Many contain a bevy of harmful chemicals, including steroids, hydroquinone, a possible carcinogen, and mercury.
Mercury is a popular ingredient because it blocks the production of melanin, the pigment that gives skin its colour. But it can also lead to discolouration and scarring while compromising the skins resistance to infections, says the World Health Organization. At high enough levels, mercury can cause liver and kidney damage, neurological problems, depression and developmental delays in children.
Zainab Bashir Yau has seen firsthand how damaging mercury can be. Shes a medical aesthetician based in Abuja, Nigerias capital. She has treated dozens of people suffering from the aftereffects of skin-lightening cosmetics. Many of her patients have rashes and burns. Some suffer from a condition known as exogenous ochronosis, which leaves skin black and blue. Those problems can be the tip of the iceberg; many patients may also have lasting damage to their internal organs, she says.
Im heartbroken because a lot of people are using these products without knowing the degree of damage they are causing, says Yau.
Yau is leading a campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of skin-lightening cosmetics. Research shes done found 80 per cent of Nigerians use these products. Yau says pregnant women have even begun getting mercury injections in a bid to change the skin tone of their unborn children.
She says the desire for lighter skin has its roots in the colonial era. Colonization has done a lot of damage to our mindsets, especially in West Africa. People generally don't feel confident in their skin.
New ban, new hope
To regulate the use of mercury, more than 150 parties have ratified the Minamata Convention, an international accord whose secretariat is hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The treaty was named after Minamata Bay, Japan, where mercury pollution killed hundreds and sickened millions during the 1950s and 1960s.
In April, the convention banned the use of mercury in cosmetics. The measure has been embraced by 13 African nations, which have vowed to work together to rein in the sale of these products. Still, implementing the agreement in Africa and elsewhere remains a work in progress. Stankiewicz says some countries lack national legislation codifying the Minamata Convention ban. Even in nations with laws on the books, enforcement is a challenge; many mercury-based cosmetics are made covertly and sold online.
A UNEP-led pilot project is helping three countries Gabon, Jamaica and Sri Lanka overcome those hurdles. Teams are advising governments on legislation to phase out mercury-containing cosmetics. Theyre helping border agencies detect toxic skin-lightening products. And theyre running public awareness campaigns that encourage people to embrace their natural skin tones.
Several celebrities have joined the push, including Davilla Cheyi Aganga, Miss Ebony Gabon. I would say to all people, especially youth, to accept themselves as they are, says Aganga, a medical student. Black skin is not an anomaly. Its not a disease. Black skin reflects our history and who we truly are.
Iya Kande benefited from a similar campaign. After attending a workshop led by Yau in the northern state of Kano, she realized skin-lightening soap was behind the rashes and blisters appearing on her children.
Today, the soap she used is no longer available, a move that has been credited to the Minamata Convention ban. But many other mercury-infused skin-lightening products remain widely used in Kano. Kande, who recently had another baby, is hoping that will change.
I would tell other parents to learn from my experience and not use these types of products, she says.
On 16 August, 2017, nations adopted the Minamata Convention on Mercury. Today, more than 150 nations are working together to reduce mercury pollution. This year, in November, the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties will take place. It will address challenges that parties face in implementing the convention, such as trade control, waste management and mercury use in cosmetics, dental fillings, artisanal and small-scale gold mining and industrial processes.
To help counter the often-harmful effects of mercury, the United Nations Environment Programme launched a project entitled Eliminating Mercury Skin Lightening Products in 2021. Funded by the Global Environment Facility, and executed in partnership with theWorld Health Organizationand theBiodiversity Research Institute, it aims to help governments stamp out the use of mercury-laced cosmetics across three pilot countries. Similar work is set to begin in 13 other nations in 2026.
