Spectrometric analysis of mercury content in 549 skin-lightening products: Is mercury toxicity a hidden global health hazard?
Abstract
Background Cosmetic skin lightening is practiced worldwide. Mercury is a well-documented melanotoxin added to some lightening products. However, mercury can cause many dermatologic, renal, and neurologic problems. The Food and Drug Administration limits the amount of mercury in cosmetic products to trace amounts, 1 ppm. Objective The objective of this study was to quantitatively evaluate a large international sample of lightening products for mercury content, focusing on products available to US consumers either online or in stores. Methods A total of 549 skin-lightening products, manufactured in 32 countries, were purchased online in the United States, Taiwan, and Japan and in stores in the United States, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, and Sri Lanka. Cosmetics were screened for mercury content above 200 ppm using a low-cost portable x-ray fluorescence spectrometer. Results Of the 549 tested products, 6.0% (n = 33) contained mercury above 1000 ppm. In all, 45% of mercury-containing samples contained mercury in excess of 10,000 ppm. Of lightening products purchased in the United States, 3.3% were found to contain mercury in excess of 1000 ppm. Limitations Our study did not evaluate creams for other melanosuppressive ingredients. Only 1 sample of each product was tested. Conclusion Our study confirms the national and global presence of mercury in skin-lightening products.
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The mercury concentration in Deluxe Silken correlates well with the 13,546 μg/g found by Hamann et al. in Deluxe Nadinola Bleaching Cream from Jamaica.
“This value correlates well with the findings of Hamann et al.24 who found 13,546 μg/g in Deluxe Nadinola Bleaching Cream from Jamaica, the predecessor product of Deluxe Silken.”
From The Evaluation of Total Mercury and Arsenic in Skin Bleaching Creams Commonly used in Trinidad and Tobago and their Potential Risk to the People of the Caribbean (2017) · cites this paper as Hamann et al.24
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Copan, L., Fowles, J., Barreau, T., & McGee, N. (2015) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph120910943 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Mohammed, T., Mohammed, E., & Bascombe, S. (2017) · Journal of Public Health Research · doi:10.4081/jphr.2017.1097 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Dórea, J. G. (2016) · International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health · doi:10.1016/j.ijheh.2016.07.010 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
- Authors
- Hamann, C. R., Boonchai, W., Wen, L., Sakanashi, E. N., Chu, C.-Y., Hamann, K., Hamann, C. P., Sinniah, K., & Hamann, D.
- Affiliations
- Loma Linda University (US)
- Siriraj Hospital (TH)
- Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College (CN)
- Tokyo Medical and Dental University (JP)
- National Taiwan University Hospital (TW)
- Calvin University (US)
- University of Arizona College of Medicine- Phoenix (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hamann, Carsten R.
- Venue
- Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2014-02
- Volume
- 70
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 281-287.e3
- ISSN
- 0190-9622 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2113137963
- Cited by
- 110
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 4
- FWCI
- 7.84
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Pharmaceutical Quality and Counterfeiting
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Mercury impact and mitigation studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Dermatology › Contact Dermatitis and Allergies
- Keywords
- mercury, skin whitening products, cosmetic safety, mercury toxicity, X-ray fluorescence
- MeSH terms
- Administration, Cutaneous, China, Evaluation Studies as Topic, Humans, Japan, Mercury, Mercury Poisoning, Ointments, Skin Absorption, Skin Pigmentation, Spectrometry, Fluorescence, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, United States, United States Food and Drug Administration, Global Health, Risk Assessment, Skin Lightening Preparations
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