Mica comprises a group of 37 minerals, also known as mica. The most commonly used varieties in industry are muscovite and phlogopite. Mica is used in countless products for a variety of purposes: it insulates against heat and electricity, strengthens fabrics, and has a shimmering effect. It is usually present in only small or minute quantities. For example, car manufacturer Terre des Hommes that while mica is found in many car parts, it makes up only 0.1 percent of a car's total composition ( Terre des Hommes research ).

• Construction industry : Joint compound, plasterboard
• Cosmetics and personal care : eyeshadow, lipstick, blush, body glitter, nail polish, shampoo, toothpaste and in products for children, such as bath soap, shower gel and children's toothpaste (see also: Problematic mineral for glitter cosmetics – child labor included)
• Plastic : as a filler and as mica in shimmering plastic
• Paints and varnishes for cars, airplanes and boats
• Oil industry : Filler for the walls of boreholes. Cars: Mica is included in paints for shimmering effects, and as a filler and insulator in cables, bumpers, dashboards, and mirror covers.
• Electrical and household appliances : mobile phones, computers, irons, coffee machines, toasters, dimmable light switches, electric heaters, etc. (mica in semiconductors, lithium-ion batteries, circuit boards, cables)

Consumers have no way of knowing whether the mica in a product comes from countries where it is mined by children. With complex products like electronic devices or cars, consumers can't even determine if and in which components mica is present. While cosmetics or toothpaste list mica as an ingredient, it doesn't specify whether it originates from a particular country or was mined under fair conditions.

Terre des Hommes is asking consumers to contact manufacturers or retailers. Get in touch via the contact form on a company's website or through their social media accounts: Does a product contain mica? Where does it come from? Does the company ensure that no children are exploited? Is it involved in the Responsible Mica Initiative )?

Membership in the RMI is an indicator of a company's commitment . Terre des Hommes 70 companies are participating .

Mica is mined in several states. Studies by Terre des Hommes have highlighted the situation in Bihar and Jharkhand, two of the country's poorest states. Local organizations estimate that people in 800 villages there depend on mica mining. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 22,000 children worked in the industry. Currently, local organizations are observing significantly more children working in mica mining: as a result of the COVID-19 lockdowns, schools are closed and school meals are no longer provided. In many cases, support from family members who work as day laborers in other parts of the country has also disappeared.

In this life-threatening situation, families are being further exploited: By selling their daily mica production , a family can earn about 100 Indian rupees – the equivalent of about €1.10 . This income is far below the poverty line of $1.90 per person per day. In emergency situations – such as during the Covid-19 pandemic – buyers exploit the families' desperation and pay even less.

The youngest children who mine mica are four years old. They usually work alongside their parents. Because there is no childcare available for younger children, mothers are forced to bring infants and toddlers to work, exposing them to heat and dust. The working conditions are dangerous: children work up to twelve hours a day, mining mica or sorting it by size. The mica is extracted from holes they dig themselves. Some of these holes are up to 20 meters deep and unsecured. Workplace accidents—some fatal—are frequent, as the shafts collapse or fill with water during rain, burying children. The children suffer from respiratory illnesses, pneumoconiosis (dust lung), and injuries (cuts) . They are often dehydrated because they cannot drink water while working. Due to these living conditions, a high number of the children are anemic and malnourished. Infectious diseases such as tuberculosis are widespread.

The living conditions of families and communities are characterized by multidimensional poverty . In Bihar, India's third-largest state, around 40 percent of the population lives below the poverty line of $1.90 a day; in Jharkhand, the figure is 39 percent . One in five children—around 20 percent—under the age of five is malnourished. Educational opportunities are also limited: Terre des Hommes found only 1,800 children attending school, while 10,000 children of school age were working and not going to school.

Bihar and Jharkhand possess 40 percent of India's mineral resources and supply, among other things, about 30 percent of the world's mica . However, mica is mined illegally, and the mines are completely unregulated: a consequence of the 1980 Deforestation Limitation Act. At that time, the government revoked mining companies' licenses in an attempt to protect the forests. But mica mining continued, illegally, without any government regulation or control , and with sometimes opaque and mafia-like business relationships between buyers and customers.

Alternative income opportunities are inaccessible to poor families: agriculture yields almost nothing ongoing drought there is a lack of education to enable them to earn income in other sectors. Their only remaining options are either mining mica or migrating to the country's cities and industrial centers.

Child labor has also been documented in Madagascar, particularly in the mining of mica. A 2019 survey by Terre des Hommes Netherlands found children working alongside their families in 14 mines in the south of the country. While the fathers excavated shafts and, in some cases, created extensive tunnel systems, children and women brought the mica to the surface and sorted it. Here, too, there is a significant risk of accidents, as the workers operate without professional equipment or safety measures. Depending on the quality of the mica, buyers pay between 27 cents and three US dollars for an adult's daily earnings.

The risk of child labor in mica mining also exists in Brazil and China, but to date no studies or other evidence are available.

In 100 villages in the mica mining regions of India Terre des Hommes ensures that all children can attend school and, above all, that women receive training so they can develop alternative sources of income. Currently, our project partners are working with 2,700 children and young people and 600 women. To ensure long-term improvement, we are calling for the legalization of mica mines in India. This would require the relevant authorities to inspect and monitor the mines and working conditions, ensuring that no children are employed and that adults receive minimum wages and social security. Equally important is that all children in the region attend school: therefore, government programs for poor families must be implemented. Schools must be better equipped so that all children of school age can be reached. Children from poor families must have access to free school meals, regular check-ups, and medical care.

Terre des Hommes actively participates in the RMI and calls on manufacturers and retailers to join the RMI and act responsibly.