Women in many countries use cosmetic products that lighten their skin, in search of “fair-skinned beauty”.
Some of the products may be harmless, but others contain potentially hazardous ingredients such as inorganic mercury compounds, hydroquinone, and steroids. To attain the desired needs, these products are often applied to large areas of the skin, left on the skin for hours at a time, and used repeatedly for weeks, months, or years.
In 1998 and 2000 the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) banned the use of cosmetics containing mercury to protect unsuspecting consumers and discourage dumping.
However, this ban has continued to be faced with many challenges among them illegal entry through porous borders, counterfeits, wrong labelling, poor knowledge among the public, and poor enforcement and surveillance.
In many markets, some of these products are labelled as either antiseptic or branded to appear as safe and medicated creams to help boost skin tone and also reduce ageing wrinkles.
On September 22, 2023, Kenya became the 147th Party to commit to the worldwide initiative to make mercury history.
The global market for skin lighting creams is estimated at $8 billion as per 2020 data and is projected to increase to $11.8 billion in 2026. An increase means more users will be recruited and this will equate to health and environmental hazards.
Mercury lightens the skin by suppressing the production of melanin and can also remove age spots, freckles, blemishes, and wrinkles.
Some of the immediate side effects of using these creams are skin irritation and inflammation, itchy skin, and a burning or stinging sensation. The long-term effects include skin turning dark or too light, thinning of the skin, visible blood vessels in the skin, scarring, kidney, liver, or nerve damage, and abnormalities in newborns.
Other severe human health effects range from kidney damage to neurological effects, including anxiety, depression, psychosis, and peripheral neuropathy.
There is an urgent need for broad, more effective government actions in all countries, to restrict the production and sale of mercury-containing cosmetics and to alert consumers of all cultures and continents to the hazards hidden in these products.
While many skin-lightening products are safe, many products on the market are unlabeled, mislabeled, counterfeit, or not labelled in a language the user can read.
Kebs must step in to protect consumers from the toxic hazards in some of these products. For effective consumer protection, there is a need for coordination and collaboration across different sectors, NGOs, academia, and civil society to raise awareness and promote enforcement at a global scale.
It’s time Kenyans embraced their natural beauty.
Kombo is a communications officer at the Center For Environment Justice and Development.
