Following suit behind Ghana and the Ivory Coast, Rwanda is actively banning skin bleaching and lightening products to curb the billion-dollar industry's reach in the nation.

The Rwandan government is demanding stores remove the cancer-causing products from shelves, according to The New York Times. Since November, officials have been actively seizing the products.

"Operations are being conducted by technical people," said Simeon Kwizera, the public relations and communications officer for the Rwanda Standards Board. "The police is there to oversee only and make sure that all operations are being conducted in a safe way."

Many of the popular cosmetics contain hydroquinone and mercury, which are known to be harmful. Mercury is known to cause kidney issues, skin rashes and deformities. The element can also affect a user's mental health, triggering depression and anxiety.  

To subscribe to European beauty standards, women from various African nations use the products to look like famous stars who have grown more popular after bleaching their skin, a sad and unfortunate side effect of long-term European colonization and imperialism.

The issue is also prevalent throughout the Caribbean, India and many East Asian nations such as China and Japan where pale skin is seen as a beauty standard. 

Reports from the World Health Organization state that about 77 percent of women in Nigeria have used skin lightening products on a regular basis. Similarly, 59 percent of South African women were found using the products. 

Al Jazeera reports the seizures may appear to be a great strategy on the surface, but it is likely users will turn to harmful, unregulated products found on the black market.

"We are now putting much effort, like educating people, going around and seizing those illegal products," Francois Uwinkindi, director of the cancer unit at the Ministry of Health, told Reuters.

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