Mercury found in fairness creams

State Minister for Climate Change Zartaj Gul says fairness products are against human rights of women

ISLAMABAD: Fairness products were against human rights of women making them believe that people with dark tone were inferior, said State Minister for Climate Change Zartaj Gul on Thursday. She said the ministry of climate change collected 59 samples of local and international cosmetic items where 56 contained hazardous mercury share in the composition of makeup goods. She was deliberating her views on the Final Workshops for Validation of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Inventories and Development of Action Plans for POPs management in Pakistan, organised by the ministry in collaboration with UN Environment. "The ministry will take up this matter and issue notices to the companies for producing such harmful beauty creams and items explicitly posing serious health complications and even cancer," she said. Zartaj said the cosmetic companies were jeopardising female particularly young girls' health as their cheap and low quality products were mercury intensive.  

Published in The Express Tribune, February 15^th, 2019.