Most of you are aware that painkillers like ibuprofen, diclofenac and naproxen can damage your kidneys, but you should also be aware that your fairness cream can also damage your kidneys.
The anti-ageing creams, skin whitening creams, soaps, and lotions contain a minimal amount of substance called mercury. Mercury is the most commonly used substance in fairness creams for whitening the skin as it triggers the formation of melanin, which results in a lighter skin tone.
Most cosmetic brands have multiple times higher than permissible limits for quick results. Mercury is a highly toxic substance; it can damage the brain, nerve, heart, liver, and kidney that can also cause cancer. Hence, besides the possibility of lead poisoning from various makeup products, mercury poisoning is something you need to pay attention to while using cosmetics, in particular in developing countries like Nepal.
A case study
This mercury is absorbed by the skin, goes into the blood, and finally accumulates in the main organs, causing damage to the liver, lungs, heart, brain, and kidney. The absorption rate is too high (80 per cent) for normal skin and even higher for damaged and oily skin.
Recently, a similar case was seen in India. A girl started using fairness cream, and within one month, her facial glow, skin tone, brightness, and fairness all significantly improved. Inspired by this, her mother and sisters also began using the cream, but after a few months, the entire family began experiencing troubling symptoms.
Their blood test showed kidney damage. When the same fairness cream was tested, it was found to have an extremely high level of mercury. The permissible level of mercury is one part per million (ppm), however, the cream had 1000 ppm of mercury in it.
Her blood mercury level was 46 mcg /l. Less than 5 mcg /l of mercury is typically found in the human body.
Many studies have already reported that fairness cream can cause glomerulonephritis and few types of research have also shown sudden death in young patients due to high levels of mercury in their blood.
Developing countries’ trouble
Cosmetic products including fairness creams cost millions of rupees to import, but are your government and health authorities aware of the health hazards caused by these cosmetic products?
Most of the fairness creams are imported from India, China, Thailand, Japan, and Korea. It is well known that companies knowingly degrade the quality to sell at a cheaper rate in developing countries. They are well aware that Nepalis lack the resources and quality labs necessary to check these products; they even bribe the authorities to have their products approved.
No one has the right to play with poor people’s health. The government ought to take an effort to examine the quality of all pharmaceuticals, including painkillers, paracetamol, ayurvedic medicines, and antibiotics in addition to these cosmetic products. They should separate the fund and train the human resources for doing this.
But, since corruption is so high in Nepal, do you expect a fair investigation? If the measures are not taken now to control it, within the next few years, the number of cancer, heart, kidney, and liver patients will increase multiply.
Prevention is better than cure
It is advised to drink plenty of fluids to prevent kidney damage caused by these products. Never use the same makeup brand for longer than two months.
Always read the label to determine the number of hazardous substances used in these cosmetics, including mercury, cadmium, chromium, lead, arsenic, and hydroquinone.
Avoid using these products if those ingredients are present in large amounts. Do not use those products if these ingredients are not listed on the label. Get checked on your kidney function and urine at least once every year.
