Many shiny makeup products contain mica-an ingredient that is usually mined through suspicious practices-but major companies in the industry are working hard to change this situation.

Author: Jocelyn C. Zuckerman 2018-10-17T07:19:51Z

In an advertisement currently broadcast on Dutch television, a woman comes out of the car. When she slammed the door behind her, the camera zoomed in, revealing a small fingerprint on the shiny surface of the car. "Many products contain traces of child labor," the voice-over said. "The traces of mineral mica were mined by children's hands." There may also be an eyeshadow powder in this place, with a small thumb print on the shiny powder surface.

The word mica comes from the Latin micare-shine, glitter or glitter-actually refers to a group of 37 crystalline minerals that have dozens of industrial applications and are used to add to everything from car paints to cosmetics Shimmer. European news reports and public awareness campaigns have allowed consumers to understand the sometimes dark origins of the substance, but many Americans still don’t know the truth about the inconvenience of this beauty pillar. According to a March 2018 report by the Swiss-based non-governmental organization Terre des Hommes (TDH), an estimated 22,000 children work in mica mines in India, where about a quarter of the world's mica supply is mined.

Claire van Bekkum, head of the TDH mica team that produced these TV commercials, visited the Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand, the so-called mica tape in the country. "You go to some remote villages and everything is shining-the ground, the children's hair," she said. She watched the children escape into the forest and scattered gadgets on the ground, next to a basket of flakes. Although Indian law prohibits children under the age of 18 from working in dangerous industries, 70% of India's mica mines are illegally operated by the Mafia. The members of the Mafia have no concerns about the use of child labor and disdain curious outsiders.

The mica belt in India is one of the poorest areas in the country, with high illiteracy and unemployment rates. Although some families have a small plot of land to cultivate, the tired soil has almost no yield. Many children must work in the mine with their parents to make ends meet. Injuries are common, and constant inhalation of fine particles can cause respiratory diseases such as asthma, silicosis, and tuberculosis. Most importantly, random mining may collapse without warning: a 2016 report by the Thomson Reuters Foundation found that in just two months, 7 children were in mica mines Suffocated to death.

In just two months, seven children were suffocated to death in the mica mine.

Although it uses only 18% of the mica mined globally each year, the beauty industry is leading the cleanup. In 2006, the Estée Lauder Companies began working with India’s Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) or Save the Children Movement to move thousands of poor children from dangerous workplaces to classrooms across the country. (In 2014, its founder Kailash Satyarthi shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan.) In addition to educating parents about their children’s basic education and health care rights, BBA also cooperated with Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation (KSCF) to Work with the state government to ensure that elementary schools and teachers are in place. The Estée Lauder Companies is currently funding projects in 152 Indian villages. According to Anna Klein, the organization’s vice president of corporate affairs, the organization owns brands known for their shiny products, including Becca, Smashbox Cosmetics and GlamGlow.

Mica is extracted in India, where an estimated 22,000 children work.

Other industry participants are also beginning to face this problem. A few years ago, the natural resource management circle of French cosmetics and perfume companies partnered with KSCF to fund more work in Indian villages. In 2016, a two-day summit in Delhi brought companies and NGOs in the mica industry together with representatives from the Indian government and some of the 700 villages involved in mica mining to address this issue. The result is the Responsible Mica Initiative (RMI), with more than 40 members including NGOs and forward-looking beauty brands such as Estee Lauder, L'Oreal, Clarins, Coty, Chanel and Burt's Bees. RMI works with member companies to improve their supply chains so that they can better understand what is happening locally; according to its executive director Fanny Frémont, its goal is to eliminate all forms of child labor within five years and establish a fully legal mica industry .

While the legalization of some of India’s hundreds of artisanal mines may be a step in the right direction, even so is complicated: some of them are located in protected forests, and in many cases sanctions mining may lead to Environmental disaster. The idea is to consolidate the industry into several larger mines, which will operate in accordance with strict environmental and labor standards.

The thorny nature of this problem may be the reason why the British company Lush chose to adopt a different strategy. For many years, the brand has been buying mined mica for bath bombs and other products, but in 2014, its main supplier admitted that it can no longer guarantee that its products will not use child labor. "The alarm bell is ringing," said Simon Constantine, Lush's chief purchaser, when he was told that he could only visit the relevant mines when accompanied by armed guards. Of course, something ugly was happening at the time. Soon after, Lush began to replace the natural mica in its products with a laboratory-made version called synthetic fluorophlogopite. This ingredient is produced by extracting silicate crystals from other minerals processed at high temperatures and is also used by brands such as Skin Owl, which makes a luminous facial oil.

Many artisanal mines are located in protected forests, and in many cases, approval of mining may lead to environmental disasters.

Heather Deeth, Lush's ethical purchasing manager, admitted that the company "struggled to find the right way forward." She said that boycott is always the last resort. "If you are a big buyer, you should stay and influence and play a role." However, in this case, because Lush said it will not buy a lot of mica-and therefore has the least impact in the industry-it seems that The most meaningful.

In other words, working to legalize mines in India is still a good way forward-beauty companies can play a role in this process. But Bhuwan Ribhu, a Delhi activist who has been working with the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Fund since 2002, added that consumers can also do their part. Although some brands provide detailed information about the source of their raw materials, others need to be nudged. “Write to them and ask them to disclose the source of the mica,” Ribhu said, and he has little patience with brands that pretend to be ignorant of mine conditions. After all, if they manage to source the specific grades of mica required for various products, they should be able to find out who is extracting the mica. "Require companies to make public their work to eliminate child labor," he said. "It's time for them to stop hiding behind excuses."

This story appeared in Marie Claire magazine in October 2018.

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