Mercury In Skin Bleaching Creams Found In Chicago, Fda To Investigate

An investigative report published May 18th by the Chicago Tribune on Mercury in some skin lighteners has spurred the FDA into action

. The Tribune had collected 50 samples from products that were sold locally or on the internet and had them tested at an independent testing laboratory. The testing found that 5 of the 50 samples had levels that were considered dangerous and could potentially cause kidney damage over time. Mercury is a very powerful neurotoxin and has many harmful effects including kidney damage, ADHD, Developmental Language Problems, Peripheral Neuropathy, Numbness in extremities, Colitis, Birth Defects, Abdominal pain and much more.

Mercury is used in skin lighteners because it blocks Melanin the dark pigment that gives skin color. Melanin also helps to protect skin from from the sun's ultraviolet rays that can cause skin cancer. But it also causes freckles and age spots, another reason why women want to bleach their skin. Mercury was banned in skin lightening products in the early 1990's but obviously it is still being used in a fairly significant percentage of products even today. The problem the FDA says is that it only has about 500 agents so it's impossible for the agency to screen all the food, drug and cosmetic imports it's expected to monitor. If it is alerted to a potential problem then the FDA will check it out but with a serious shortage of personal quite a few tainted or harmful products are bound to get through.

I feel that it is passed time that ALL products need to be tested BEFORE they are allowed on the market an on store shelves. All manufacturers or importers should have to show documents that the products have been tested and are safe to use, this would put the onus on the manufacturers and free up the FDA and their limited resources. Also if a product is found to have any ingredient that is banned then the importer or manufacturer should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This is a ridiculous situation, the health and safety of our citizens should of the highest priority.

by: Patrick Hayes

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