Skin-whitening products slowly poison the body

Dubai: You may think your skin-whitening product works to clear your skin of those extra blemishes, but some of these products can do more harm than good by gradually and silently poisoning you.

The Health Authority — Abu Dhabi (Haad), which regulates the Abu Dhabi health care sector, has warned the public against the use of some skin-whitening products which contain mercury.

"Lots of people, especially women, use skin-whitening cosmetic products to get rid of spots or freckles. Such products are available in the local market and many of these come from China and Thailand," Dr Mohammad Abu Al Khair, Section Head, Drug and Medical Products Regulation at Haad, said.

"In the last few years, many skin-whitening products were analysed by several health authorities; most of these products contained mercury at a higher rate than the accepted international standard [1 part of a million parts] and were banned," Dr Al Khair added.

Mercury, a chemical element, is the only metal that exists in liquid form at normal temperatures. It can be found in thermometers and lights.

Derivatives of mercury were a major component in skin-whitening creams and soaps in the 1970s.

The use of mercury in cosmetics, however, was banned in Europe in 1976 and years later in the United States after the discovery of its dangerous effects on the body. Such products are also banned in the UAE.

"It goes through the [skin] tissue and then goes to the liver mainly. It has a long life of up to 90 days in the body after consumption. When the liver metabolises it, it then goes into the bile duct, and part of this is re-absorbed. The remaining goes out from the kidney but it continuously accumulates in the body," Dr Ekram Allah Nasser, a specialist dermatologist and medical director, told Gulf News.

Toxicity

Dr Nasser said that continuous use of mercury-containing products will result in chronic low-dose exposure toxicity or poisoning over a period of time.

But mercury poisoning doesn't just harm the person using the product.

"If pregnant women are using these mercury-containing products, then it can disturb the pregnancy or have damaging effects on the foetus," Dr Nasser said adding that younger women may have infertility issues with an overdose of mercury and the immune system can get compromised.

Mercury poisoning manifests through these symptoms: frenzy, sore mouth and gums, tiredness, fatigue and memory loss. It also leads to kidney problems and affects the nervous system.

Haad has urged the public to stop using any whitening product that may contain the words "mercurouschloride", calomel, mercuric, mercurio or mercury. Also, avoid using any product that has no proper labelling.