Resources

White lies is a series by CNN's As Equals investigating skin whitening practices worldwide. The series will expose the underlying drivers of colorism, the industry that profits from it and the cost to individuals and communities globally.

Report of the Global Mercury Partnership Advisory Group (PAG) 13th Meeting, which took place on 9-10 November 2022, in Paris, France.

The report, aims to present a compilation of available knowledge on the life cycle of mercury in crude oil and natural gas, to better understand the behaviour and emission and release pathways of mercury, particularly during the extraction, processing, management and waste disposal stages, and to illustrate various technologies for controlling the releases.

In this edition, learn about recent and upcoming events, latest mercury-related publications and initiatives, and meet our new members. Good reading!

[ Spanish ] This animation shows a conversation between an older woman and young girl named Lucy, regarding the use of an unlabeled cream from Mexico that the niece uses to remove blemishes and lighten her skin.

The Global Mercury Partnership organised an information sharing session on Minamata Initial Assessments (MIAs): latest trends, key findings and data analysis tools, on Tuesday 27 September 2022.

The webinar presented initial analysis of aggregated data from 74 MIA mercury inventories and explored patterns and trends in the data.

Creating a Hub for Regional Mercury Monitoring

Laboratory networks for mercury and other contaminant analyses in areas throughout the world, especially in mercury hotspots, will provide important information for the assessment of risk—to humans, wildlife, and ecosystems—in these regional environments.

Background The Minamata Convention on Mercury (Article 4) prohibits the manufacture, import or export of skin-lightening products containing mercury concentrations above 1 μg/g. However, there is a lack of knowledge surrounding the global prevalence of mercury-added skin-lightening products.

The report aims to elucidate the fate of mercury within commercial smelters and refiners; estimate the magnitude of potential emissions and releases from the production of non-ferrous metals; and illustrate various technologies for controlling them.

BRI and the Nexus3 Foundation, in collaboration with other nongovernmental organizations, are leading a three-year project to support the Government of Indonesia in restricting mercury supplies, especially for the artisanal small-scale gold mining sector.

« Pour une couleur de peau », les enfants victimes de la dépigmentation. Video focuses on SLP use on children in Togo and Guinea.

In this new edition, learn more about recent and upcoming events, latest mercury-related publications and initiatives, including interactive tools and meet our new members. Good reading!

The UNEP Global Mercury Partnership and its Area of work on Mercury Releases from the Cement Industry organized an online technical information-sharing session on 23 June 2022.

The event exchanged on current knowledge about best practices to control and reduce emissions of mercury from the cement sector and shared information on available guidance.

Mercury emissions, deposition, and releases into the environment explain only part of the spatial story of mercury pollution. Ecosystem sensitivity and food web relationships help further define the actual risks to human and ecosystem health.

Skin lightening might not be a familiar topic to many Americans, but it is an intensely popular subject globally and in some U.S. communities of color: The hashtag #whiteningcream has over 40 million views on TikTok, and products that are promised to bleach or lighten skin tone are readily available both online and at drugstores.

Children's exposure to mercurial skin lightening agents at any time during their development, from intra-uterine to early developmental life, can lead to severe detrimental health effects. This is because these skin lightening agents contain inorganic mercury as their active ingredient at varying concentrations that exceed acceptable levels.

This brochure provides a brief overview on the health and environmental impacts of mercury, cyanide and silica dust in the sector. Chemical risks do not only affect miners, but also their communities. Mercury and cyanide are both highly toxic to human health. However, only mercury persists in the environment and can travel long distances.

The Zero Mercury Working Group (ZMWG) has been investigating mercury-added skin lightening products (SLPs) for several years, primarily due to their health risks, their illegality under many national laws, and the prohibition by the Minamata Convention on Mercury against the manufacture and trade of mercury-added SLPs, which generally became effective in 2021.

Mercury compounds are frequently added to skin lightening products (SLPs) because mercury lightens the skin by suppressing the production of melanin, despite substantial health risks. SLPs have received significant attention in the scientific literature—and World Health Organization recognizes that mercury—added to some SLPs—is a “major public health concern.”

November 2019 (Revised March 2022) It is an uncomfortable truth that colorism is still pervasive worldwide. In communities of color, beauty standards based on the racist notion that lighter skin is more desirable still hold power.

Despite advances in modern dentistry, untreated dental caries in permanent teeth was reported as one the most prevalent conditions assessed in the 2019 Global Burden of Disease study. The restorative model for managing dental caries was developed in the 1900s, with dental amalgam as one of the restorative materials.

Report of the Global Mercury Partnership Advisory Group (PAG) 12th Meeting, which took place on 11 and 14 March 2022, in two online settings.

This webpage from U.S. Food and Drugs Administration lists information on what the law and FDA regulations say about cosmetic ingredients and safety.

In this edition, learn more about the upcoming twelfth meeting of the Partnership Advisory Group taking place in March, as well as latest news from Partnership Areas, and welcome Zaigham Abbas (Ministry of Climate Change, Pakistan) as new co-lead of the Mercury releases from the cement industry Area. Read about the upcoming second segment of Minamata Convention COP4.