Ebay Sued for Not Warning About Mercury in Skin Lighteners Lawsuit alleges consumers were knowingly exposed to mercury without legally required warnings.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The Mercury Policy Project, a project of the San Francisco Tides Center, filed a lawsuit against EBAY, INC. (eBay.com) late last week under California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act (commonly referred to as “Proposition 65.”) The lawsuit alleges that eBay knowingly exposed consumers to mercury from toxic skin lightening products (SLPs) offered for sale on its website without the legally required warnings.
Testing of over thirty SLPs purchased on eBay.com found dangerously high levels of mercury — thousands of times the legal limit of 1 ppm set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — up to 31,000 times the FDA’s threshold. While most of the SLPs were sent for testing to an accredited lab in Minnesota, several were tested by the California Department of Public Health.
“We have filed a legal complaint to ensure that eBay warns consumers at point of purchase that certain skin lighteners contain mercury,” said Michael Bender, Director of the Mercury Policy Project. “As stated in our complaint, it is the People’s right to be ‘informed about exposures to chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm’ under Proposition 65.”
The California Department of Public Health provides consumer warnings about mercury exposure for some of the SLPs tested, while other health departments have provided product warnings about others.
The dangers of mercury added SLPs are well known as multiple health and safety agencies in the US and across the globe have regularly issued health alerts, announced investigations into, and advised consumers to beware of exposure risks to mercury.
“Online platforms like eBay.com have enabled the creation of a black market where cosmetics adulterated with mercury are being sold—without warning the public,” said Rachel Doughty, Esq. the plaintiff’s attorney from Greenfire Law, LLC. “By turning a blind eye toward sellers that supply toxic skin lighteners to online marketplaces such as eBay, this business model promotes sale of unsafe products under the guise of legitimate commerce.”
Multiple advocacy organizations, including the Mercury Policy Project, notified eBay in a November 15, 2018 letter about the exposure risks of mercury added SLPs offered for sale on its website.
Since then, the Mercury Policy Project and the Zero Mercury Working Group have found high levels of mercury in SLPs offered by eBay across the United States and around the world.
In January 2025, a similar lawsuit was settled against Amazon.com after a decades long legal dispute.
Contact:
Michael Bender, Mercury Policy Project; mercurypolicy@aol.com
Rachel Doughty, Esq., Greenfire Law, LLC; rdoughty@greenfirelaw.com
For more information:
Legal Complaint: https://app.box.com/s/28apfqu9kn3ukzw78bizry5d35d1z3jp/file/2118325939131FDAconsumer warning: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/mercury-poisoning-linkedskin-products
California consumer warning: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/DEODC/EHIB/CPE/CDPH%20Document%20Library/Mercury_in_Skin_Cream_Latino_English_May2022.pdf ;
https://www.acs.org/pressroom/newsreleases/2014/august/rooting-out-skin-creams-that-contain-toxicmercury.html
Minnesota consumer warning: https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/skin/index.html
New York City consumer warning: https://www.nyc.gov/site/doh/about/press/pr2025/health-departmentwarns-new-yorkers-about-skin-lightening-products.page
NGO Public action letter to Ebay:
https://www.ewg.org/sites/default/files/u352/eBay_Letter_15_November_Final_US-51_0.pdf
California Attorneys General Press Release: https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-generalbonta-announces-nearly-600k-settlement-amazon-resolving
Zero Mercury Working Group Hg/SLP Campaign: https://www.zeromercury.org/mercury-added-skinlightening-creams-campaign/
