Popular Fairness Cream In India Contains Mercury- Dermatocare’s ingredients guide
Written By Dr Surbhi, MD Skin
Last updated: 19/09/18Mercury is linked to nervous system toxicity, as well as reproductive, immune and respiratory toxicity. Mercury is found in thimerosal, which is a mercury-based preservative, and it is readily absorbed by the skin. However, you might not find mercury or thimerosal on the ingredient list of your favourite cream. 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 of India.
A study conducted by Center for Science and Environment, India’s leading NGO shows that mercury is present in 44% of popular Fairness creams brands in India. This is despite the fact that Cosmetic and Drug Act prohibits the presence of mercury in skin care products.
KINDLY NOTE: 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.
Here are the results as mentioned in the study:
|
Name |
Total Mercury (ppm) |
Percentage of Average Daily Intake if you use 2g/day of cream |
|
Aroma Magic Fair Lotion |
1.97 |
36.4 |
|
Olay Natural White |
1.79 |
33.1 |
|
Ponds White Beauty |
1.36 |
25.2 |
|
Lotus Cocofair Cream |
0.81 |
15 |
|
Fair & Lovely Anti Marks |
0.73 |
13.5 |
|
L'Oreal Pearl Effect |
0.7 |
12.9 |
|
Revlon Touch and Glow |
0.25 |
4.6 |
|
Biotique Bio Coconut |
0.24 |
4.4 |
|
Garnier Men Power Light |
0.24 |
4.4 |
|
Vivel Active Fair |
0.23 |
4.3 |
|
Emami Malai Keshar Cold Cream |
0.22 |
4.1 |
|
Lakme Perfect Radiance |
0.19 |
3.5 |
|
VLCC Enbrighten (Sun Defence) |
0.11 |
2 |
|
Fair & Lovely Ayurvedic Care |
0.1 |
1.8 |
|
Fair & Lovely multi Vitamin daily fairness cream |
Not Detected |
0 |
|
Fairever |
Not Detected |
0 |
|
Garnier Skin Naturals, Light |
Not Detected |
0 |
|
Fair & Lovely Winter Fairness |
Not Detected |
0 |
|
Fair One Shahnaz Husain |
Not Detected |
0 |
|
Neutrogena Fine Fairness |
Not Detected |
0 |
|
Lotus White Glow |
Not Detected |
0 |
|
Nivea Sparkling Glow |
Not Detected |
0 |
|
Lakme |
Not Detected |
0 |
|
Lotus Micro emulsion |
Not Detected |
0 |
|
Lotus Fair Gel |
Not Detected |
0 |
|
Himalaya Herbals Fairness Cream |
Not Detected |
0 |
|
Jovees Pearl Whitening Face Cream |
Not Detected |
0 |
|
Fair & Lovely Max Fairness |
Not Detected |
0 |
|
Emami Fair and Handsome |
Not Detected |
0 |
|
L'Oreal Men Expert |
Not Detected |
0 |
|
Vaseline Men Face |
Not Detected |
0 |
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.
Source: https://www.cseindia.org/userfiles/Heavy_Metals_in_Cosmetics_Report.pd