FDA Issues Warning on Mercury in Anti-Aging Products

The beauty cream you’re using may contain some ugly ingredients. That’s the upshot of a new warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that many anti-aging products, cosmetics, skin lotions, and antiseptic soaps contain hidden mercury.

Jason Humbert of FDA’s Office of Regulatory Affairs says these products are usually marketed as skin lighteners and anti-aging treatments that remove age spots, freckles, blemishes, and wrinkles. Adolescents may use these products as acne treatments.

Most are manufactured abroad and sold online or illegally in the United States, often in shops catering to the Latino, Asian, African, or Middle Eastern communities, Humbert said.

But it may not be readily apparent that they contain mercury because the labels can be misleading he added. If the ingredients list includes “mercurous chloride,” “calomel,” “mercuric,” “mercurio,” the mercury’s in it — and you should stop using the product immediately, the FDA advises.

FDA does not allow mercury in drugs or in cosmetics, except under very specific conditions where there are no other safe and effective preservatives available, she added.

Exposure to mercury can have serious health consequences, noted Dr. Arthur Simone, a senior medical advisor at FDA. Some people — including pregnant women, nursing babies, and young children — are especially vulnerable to mercury toxicity. The toxin can harm babies’ developing brains and nervous systems.

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[ Yet the mercury-based preservative Thimerosal in child vaccines is said to be perfectly safe.. --Editor ]