Mercury, a notorious troublemaker, is not just a heavy metal; it’s the culprit behind a laundry list of issues, from wreaking havoc on your nervous system to stirring up trouble in your reproductive, immune, and respiratory systems. What’s more, it’s like a sneaky infiltrator, often found masquerading in thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, which your skin, ever so obliging, eagerly absorbs.

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In a jaw-dropping revelation, a prominent NGO took center stage with a groundbreaking study that pulled back the curtain on fairness creams. Much to our astonishment, the lineup featured some of the most popular fairness creams in India.

Bearing the torch of truth, the Center for Science and Environment, India’s foremost NGO, unveiled their investigation that sent shockwaves through the industry. Their findings exposed the presence of mercury in a staggering 44% of the leading fairness cream brands in India. This revelation left us scratching our heads, considering that the Cosmetic and Drug Act expressly prohibits the use of mercury in skincare products.

A study conducted by a reputed NGO released a list of fairness creams that contain mercury. To our surprise, it has many popular fairness creams in India.

A study by the Center for Science and Environment, India’s leading NGO, shows that mercury is present in 44% of popular Fairness cream brands in India. This is even though the Cosmetic and Drug Act prohibits the presence of mercury in skin care products.

Fast forward to the year 2014 when this eye-opening study was conducted. It’s worth noting that we remain cautiously optimistic that renowned companies may well have taken significant steps to purge mercury from their products since then.

Here are the results as mentioned in the study:

Calculation of Average Daily Intake is based on USEPA oral Reference Dose (RfD) of 0.0003 mg/kg-day of HgCl2, which translates into an ADI for a 50 kg person as 0.015 mg.

In 2020, Norway banned the sale of Fair and lovely cream because it contained mercury and hydroquinone. 

Mercury is not mentioned in the ingredients list. Thus, scanning the list would be futile. You can try homemade skin-lightening solutions for your skin.

Source: BMJ 2014; 348 Skin whitening cream may contain mercury, and lipstick may contain chromium and nickel, Indian study shows