Mica comprises a group of 37 minerals, also known as mica. Muscovite and phlogopite are the most commonly used minerals in industry. Mica is used in countless products for a variety of purposes: it insulates heat and electricity, strengthens fabrics, and adds shimmer. It is usually only present in small or tiny amounts in these products. Car manufacturers told Terre des Hommes that while mica is found in many car parts, it only makes up 0.1 percent of a car ( Terre des Hommes research ).

• Construction industry : joint mass, plasterboard
• Cosmetics and body care : eyeshadow, lipstick, blush, body glitter, nail polish, shampoo, toothpaste and in products for children such as bathing soap, shower gel and children's toothpaste (see also: problematic mineral for glitter cosmetics - including child labor)
• Plastic : as a filler and as a mica in shimmering plastic
• Colors and paints for cars, planes and boats
• Oil industry : Filling fabric for the walls of borehole cars: For shimmering effects, mica is contained in varnish
• Electrical and household appliances : cell phones, computers, iron, coffee machines, toaster, dimmable light switch, electrical heater etc. (mica in semiconductors, lithium-ion batteries, boards, cables)

Consumers have no chance of recognizing whether the mica comes in a product from countries in which it is mined by children. In the case of complex products, such as electronic devices or cars, consumers cannot even determine whether and in which components mica is contained. In the list of ingredients of cosmetics or toothpaste there is an indication of the ingredient Mica - whether it is mica from a certain country or it was stipulated under fair conditions.

Terre des Hommes asks consumers to ask manufacturers or retailers. Get in touch using the contact form on a company's website or via the company's 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 ?

One indication of a company's commitment is their membership in the Responsible Mica Initiative . Terre des Hommes 70 companies are currently involved .

Mica is mined in several states. Studies by Terre des Hommes have shed light on the situation in Bihar and Jharkhand, two of the poorest states in the country. According to local organizations, people in 800 villages there depend on mica mining. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 22,000 children worked there. Currently, local organizations are observing significantly more children involved in mica mining: as a result of the lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, schools are closed and school meals are canceled. In many cases, support from family members who work as daily laborers in other regions of the country is no longer available.

In this existence-threatening situation, the families are further exploited: by selling their mica daily production, a family can achieve around 100 Indian rupees-the equivalent of around 1.10 euros . This means that the earnings are far below the poverty line of $ 1.90 per day and person. In emergency situations-for example during the Covid 19 pandemic-buyers use hopelessness and pay even less.

The youngest children who dig mica are four years old. They usually work with their parents. Because there is no way of looking after small children, mothers are forced to take infants and toddlers to work and to expose them to heat and dust. Working conditions are dangerous: children work up to twelve hours and mine mica or sort it by size. The mica is taken from self -dug holes. Some of these holes are up to 20 meters deep and not secured. Play accidents - also fatal - are common, because the shafts break or run with water when rain, so that children are spilled. The children suffer from diseases of the airways, dust flung and injuries (cuts) . They are often dehydrated because they cannot drink water during work. Due to the living conditions, a high number of children is anemic and malnourished. Infectious diseases such as tuberculosis are common.

The living conditions of families and communities are characterized by multidimensional poverty . In Bihar, India's third-largest state, around 40 percent of people live 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 attended school, while 10,000 school-age children worked and did not attend.

Bihar and Jharkhand have 40 percent of India's mineral resources and supply, among other things, around 30 percent of the mica consumed worldwide . However, mica is mined illegally, and the mines are not subject to any controls: a consequence of the Deforestation Control Act of 1980. At that time, the government revoked mining companies' licenses to protect the forest. But mica mining continued, illegally, without any government regulation or control , and with sometimes opaque and mafia-like business relationships between buyers and consumers.

Alternative income options are not accessible: agriculture hardly throws anything continuing drought In addition there is a lack of education to achieve income in other sectors. Either the digging of Mica or the migration in the country's cities and industrial centers remain.

Children have also been proven to work in mica mining in Madagascar. In a 2019 survey conducted by Terre des Hommes Netherlands, researchers found children working alongside their families in 14 mines in the south of the country. While the fathers dug shafts and sometimes constructed complex tunnel systems, children and women lifted the mica to the surface and sorted it. Here, too, there is a significant risk of accidents, as people work without professional equipment and safety measures. Depending on the quality of the mica, buyers pay between 27 cents and three US dollars for an adult's daily yield.

The risk of child labor in the reduction of Mica also exists in Brazil and China, but there are still no studies or other evidence here.

In 100 villages in the mica mining areas of India Terre des Hommes ensures that all children can go to school and, above all, that women receive training so they can develop other sources of income. Our project partners are currently working with 2,700 children and young people and 600 women. To improve the situation in the long term, we are calling for the legalization of the mica mines in India. The responsible authorities must then inspect the mines and working conditions, monitoring them to ensure that no children work there and that adults receive minimum wages and social security. It is equally important that all children in the region go to school: Therefore, government programs for poor families must be implemented. Schools must be better equipped to reach all school-age children. Children from poor families must benefit from free school meals, regular checkups, and medical care.

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