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Heavy Metal Index

Hong Kong Mercury Control Ordinance - mercury in cosmetics

Scope The loaded rows cover cosmetics under Schedule 3 Part 1 of the Mercury Control Ordinance, including skin-lightening soap and cream.

Scope

The loaded rows cover cosmetics under Schedule 3 Part 1 of the Mercury Control Ordinance, including skin-lightening soap and cream. The schedule treats cosmetics as regulated mercury-added products unless the product falls within the unintentional trace exception or the eye-area mercury-preservative exception.

Exact limit and units

MetalMatrixLimitUnitBasis
MercuryCosmetic products with unintentional trace mercurynot exceeding 1ppmmercury content
MercuryEye-area cosmetic products containing mercury as preservative where no effective and safe substitute is availablenot exceeding 70ppmmercury content

How tested

The ordinance states mercury-content thresholds for the Schedule 3 product descriptions. It does not print a dedicated cosmetic analytical method in the schedule text.

Enforcement posture

The ordinance prohibits export, import, manufacture, and supply of regulated mercury-added products except as provided by permit or exemption. A cosmetic outside the stated exceptions is treated as a regulated mercury-added product.

History of changes

Cap. 640 commenced on 1 December 2021. The source is the verified copy last updated 27 March 2026; the cosmetics schedule item was replaced by L.N. 114 of 2025.

How it compares

These rows are mercury-only product controls under a Minamata implementation ordinance. They should not be expanded to lead, arsenic, or cadmium cosmetics limits.

Sources

Update history

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