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Pakistan faces global pressure to “walk the talk” on toxic skin-whitening creams
Over 20 international health and environmental organizations have called on Pakistan’s Competition Commission (CCP) to halt the manufacture and global trade of mercury-containing skin-whitening creams. The move intensifies scrutiny of the country’s cosmetics manufacturing sector, after a recent testing round found that 35 of 37 creams manufactured in Pakistan contained mercury levels thousands of times higher than the legal limit. The coalition, which includes the Zero Mercury Working Group (ZMWG), the California Department of Public Health, and NGOs across Africa, Asia, and the Americas, has sent a letter to the CCP calling for stronger enforcement of existing bans on mercury-based formulations.