Mercury and hydroquinone content of skin toning creams and cosmetic soaps, and the potential risks to the health of Ghanaian women
Open accessAbstract
In this study, sixty-two (62) skin-lightening creams and soaps were analysed for total mercury and hydroquinone levels. Total mercury was determined by the Cold Vapour Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry using an automatic mercury analyser and hydroquinone by High Performance Liquid Chromatography. The mean concentration of total mercury in skin toning creams and cosmetic soaps were 0.098 ± 0.082 and 0.152 ± 0.126 μg/g, respectively. The mean concentration of hydroquinone was 0.243 ± 0.385 and 0.035 ± 0.021 % in skin toning creams and cosmetic soaps, respectively. All the creams and soaps analysed had mercury and hydroquinone levels below the US Food and Drug Administration's acceptable limit of 1 μg/g and 2 %, respectively. The low levels of mercury and hydroquinone in the creams and soaps analysed in this study therefore do not pose any potential risk to consumers who are mostly women in Ghana.
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Recent publications have reported that mercury is still being used in many skin lightening products found in Mexico, Africa, The United States and Asia.
“Recent publications have reported that mercury is still being used in many skin lightening products found in Mexico,12 Africa,13 The United States14 and Asia.15”
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Total Mercury Content of Skin Toning Creams and the Potential Risk to the Health of Women In Ghana
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Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Doreen A (2010) Levels of hydroquinone and mercury in skin lightening creams and their potential risk to the health of consumers in Ghana. Unpublished Master’s dissertation, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
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Irfan, M., Shafeeq, A., Siddiq, U., Bashir, F., Ahmad, T., Athar, M., Butt, M. T., Ullah, S., Mukhtar, A., Hussien, M., et al. (2022) · Journal of Hazardous Materials · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128806 · Cited by 63 · 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
- Authors
- Agorku, E. S., Kwaansa-Ansah, E. E., Voegborlo, R. B., Amegbletor, P., & Opoku, F.
- Affiliations
- Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (GH)
- Venue
- SpringerPlus
- Published
- 2016-03-11
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 319-319
- ISSN
- 2193-1801 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4788657
- OpenAlex
- W2295457874
- Cited by
- 59
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 4.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- SpringerPlus (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Council for Tertiary Education
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Mercury impact and mitigation studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Dermatology › Contact Dermatitis and Allergies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Pharmaceutical Quality and Counterfeiting
- Keywords
- mercury, hydroquinone, skin bleaching creams, cosmetic safety, heavy metal contamination, Ghanaian women, consumer health risk, cosmetic regulation
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