SEO Riders:
– Over 20 Pasay City stores found selling mercury-contaminated skin-lightening creams banned under ASEAN and national law.
– BAN Toxics and EcoWaste Coalition warn of severe health risks including neurological and renal damage.
– Advocacy groups demand reinforced enforcement, retail crackdowns, and public education on toxic cosmetic hazards.
Despite the 2021 FDA ban, Filipino watchdogs EcoWaste Coalition and BAN Toxics** have uncovered widespread sale of prohibited skin-lightening creams containing high concentrations of mercury—well above the 1 ppm safety limit—in older and newer retail outlets across **Pasay City. A rapid market survey in May 2024 confirmed mercury products were sold at more than 20 stores in malls including Baclaran Terminal Plaza Mall, Victory Pasay Mall, Wellcome Plaza, and others, showing blatant disregard for public health safeguards under ASEAN Cosmetic Directive.
BAN Toxics reinforced these findings in July 2025, issuing a public health alert that banned creams—such as Goree Beauty Cream variants and others—remain available in local stores. Independent lab tests and prior e-commerce investigations revealed products with mercury levels ranging from 7 ppm up to 67,400 ppm, far exceeding permissible thresholds. Mercury exposure can lead to neurological damage, kidney dysfunction, immune suppression, skin lesions, and developmental harm—risks amplified for infants, pregnant women, and children.
