MERCURY WARNING: The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has issued a warning about skin-lightening products being sold in the city with harmful levels of mercury. The city Health Department has identified 22 such cosmetics products being sold over the counter in New York, some with mercury levels exceeding allowable limits by 30,000, the department reported on Tuesday. Most of the products, which are advertised to whiten skin or remove spots and wrinkles, are creams originating in Pakistan or Thailand. The Health Department has initiated enforcement actions to stop the sale of the products and has removed 1,820 of them from shelves.
STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH: The city has opened a sixteenth school-based mental health clinic, Mayor Eric Adams announced on Tuesday, fulfilling a goal announced in 2024. The clinics, which are staffed by New York City Health + Hospitals, offer students individual, family and group therapy along with referrals to community-based providers and telehealth. Teachers and other school employees may also consult clinic staff and receive training to further support students. The clinics, which are located in schools in the South Bronx and Brooklyn, will serve an estimated 6,000 students, the mayor said.
LOAN REPAYMENT: Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday that the administration has expanded a loan repayment program to help mental health professionals pay down school debt to clinicians working with youth and adolescents. The Office of Mental Health and Office of Child and Family Services will get $4 million to support 400 awards of up to $30,000 each for mental health providers who work three years at an eligible state clinic. Clinicians including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists are eligible for the program, the governor’s office said. The program, which launched in 2022, has provided up to $9.6 million in loan repayment for 909 providers.
