A study conducted by a leading green NGO has found high amount of heavy metals including mercury in fairness products of reputed companies being endorsed by big Bollywood names.
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE's) Pollution Monitoring Lab (PML), which conducted the study, said despite the prohibition of use of mercury in cosmetics in India, it found mercury in 44 per cent of the fairness creams it tested.
It also found chromium in 50 per cent and nickel in 43 per cent of the lipstick samples it tested. The lab also tested for lead and cadmium, but did not find any.
"Mercury is not supposed to be present in cosmetic products. Their mere presence in these products is completely illegal and unlawful," CSE director general Sunita Narain said.
CSE said that 73 cosmetic products of four different categories were tested for heavy metals while 32 fairness creams (26 for women and six for men) were tested for mercury.
30 lipsticks, 8 lip balms and 3 anti-ageing creams were tested for lead, cadmium, chromium and nickel. The samples included Indian and international cosmetic brands along with a few herbal products.
"The fact that our lab did not find mercury in 56 per cent of the products tested suggests that the industry has the capacity and wherewithal to clean up their act. Many companies are following the law - what is stopping the others from doing so?" She asked.
The CSE test said that mercury was found in 14 fairness creams in the range of 0.10 parts per million (ppm) to 1.97 ppm.
A CSE statement said that a reputed product had the highest mercury level at 1.97 ppm, followed by another such product which registered 1.79 ppm.
Similarly, it found chromium in 15 out of 30 lipsticks tested in the range of 0.45 ppm to 17.83 ppm while Nickel was found in 13 out of 30 products tested in the range of 0.57 to 9.18 ppm.
"What is coming out very clearly is that this sector has extremely weak regulations and almost no enforcement of whatever laws that exist," Chandra Bhushan, CSE deputy director general and head of its lab said.
