Mother loses peripheral vision from apparent exposure to mercury in beauty creams

A woman in Minnesota lost part of her vision and inadvertently put her entire household at risk of mercury poisoning, most likely from using beauty creams used for whitening skin containing high levels of the toxic chemical, according to a case report shared exclusively with CNN.

 

The report, shared by Dr. Erin Batdorff with the Minnesota Poison Control System, details the extensive symptoms experienced by the woman, also a mother, and how home visits conducted by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) found high levels of mercury in her children's bedrooms, bedding, household towels and laundry area.

 

The woman, whose name has been concealed in the report to protect her identity, was referred to Batdorff's team after she reported an array of symptoms to multiple doctors, ranging from insomnia and leg pain to muscle weakness, fatigue and, eventually, the loss of her peripheral vision (which Batdorff says is a more extreme symptom). Clinical tests revealed elevated levels of mercury in her blood and urine.

 

Mercury has long been used in skin whitening products due to its ability to block the production of melanin, the pigment that gives color to skin. US Food and Drug Administration regulations and the Minamata Convention on Mercury – an international treaty to protect human health and the environment from mercury – limit the use of mercury in cosmetics, excluding those used around the eye area, to 1mg/kg of mercury, also known as 1 part per million (ppm).

 

The products found in the woman's home ranged from 4,590 ppm to 18,000 ppm.

 

The woman's story is one of many in the state of Minnesota and other parts of the US in recent years where women and entire households are believed to have been exposed to inorganic mercury from the prolonged use of skin whitening products that fail to disclose they contain harmful levels of the toxic chemical.

 

Beauty products containing mercury remain easily accessible in local malls and markets throughout the US and through online retailers, experts say, aided by the fact that they fail to list mercury as an ingredient. Batdorff and other experts are calling for greater awareness, regular testing of products and stricter enforcement of regulations to help combat the problem.