Tuesday 29 November 2022 07:15 PM Doctors sound alarm over mercury lurking in beauty creams as Minnesota mom goes ... trends now

A Minnesota mom went partially blind as a result of mercury poisoning after being exposed to the heavy metal in face cream.

An official report found the unnamed patient had been using certain brands that had exceptionally high levels of the toxic metal - even though this was not disclosed on the labels.

The Somalian woman initially reached out to poisoning experts when she began experiencing a range of symptoms that interfered with her daily life, including insomnia, leg pain, muscle weakness, and fatigue.

The woman reported her symptoms, including gradual loss of her peripheral vision, to a range of doctors. 

Unable to diagnose her, doctors referred the woman to a team of toxicologists headed up by Dr Erin Batdorff with the Minnesota Poison Control System. Dr Batdorff ran a series of blood and urine tests that yielded shocking results. 

A test conducted at a home visit in 2022 revealed that the woman's mercury level had soared to 46.6 micrograms/liter, over nine times the level considered normal (5 micrograms/liter). 

It was clear at that point that the woman had suffered mercury poisoning. She had also inadvertently put her family at risk.   

Elevated levels of the heavy metal were also detected in her home, likely due to the amounts left in the family’s washing machine after the woman laundered her clothes. Levels of up to 300 mg/m3 were found in the washing machine.

The public health authorities also detected abnormally high concentrations in the children’s rooms. The children themselves had elevated levels of mercury in their bodies as well.

Dr Batdorff's team of toxicologists conducted two home visits a year apart to test the woman and her family for concentrations of the metal in their systems. They tested for mercury in the woman's skin creams as well. 

On the first visit, the woman showed researchers the creams she had previously used.

The mercury contents of two products were several thousand times higher than the permitted levels of 1 part per million (ppm) in cosmetics. Urine tests revealed high levels of mercury in her body – 23mcg/liter.

The following year, she had two new creams in her medicine cabinet that she had finished using, but new unopened versions of the products contained extremely high levels of mercury of 11,000 and 18,000ppm. 

The woman’s vision loss was a more extreme symptom of mercury poisoning than what Dr Batdorff typically sees, which includes tingling or numbness in a patient's hands or feet. 

Severe cases of mercury poison can result in life threatening health effects including kidney failure and catastrophic damage to the central nervous system as well as infertility. 

The report did not disclose which lightening creams in particular the woman had been using, though she reportedly bought at least some of them abroad. The products are also available at some major retailers including Amazon. 

Different creams and cleansers contain varying formulas, but they all typically work the same way: They penetrate the skin via hair follicles and sweat glands and block the production of melanin in the skin.