PMID- 22258417
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20120224
LR  - 20220330
IS  - 1545-861X (Electronic)
IS  - 0149-2195 (Linking)
VI  - 61
IP  - 2
DP  - 2012 Jan 20
TI  - Mercury exposure among household users and nonusers of skin-lightening creams 
      produced in Mexico - California and Virginia, 2010.
PG  - 33-6
AB  - Mercury exposure has been reported among users of skin-lightening creams produced 
      outside the United States but not among nonusers in their households. Mercury 
      exposure can result in irreversible renal and central nervous system damage or 
      death. In March 2010, coordinators of a health study notified members of a 
      Mexican-American family in California with four study participants that they had 
      elevated blood mercury levels and also notified the local health department, 
      which in turn asked the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to 
      investigate. CDPH interviewed the four study participants and a fifth household 
      member and identified unlabeled skin-lightening creams with mercury content 
      measured at 2.0%-5.7% by weight as the likely source of mercury exposure. CDPH 
      also interviewed friends of the study participants in California who had used 
      similar skin-lightening products, and the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) 
      interviewed relatives in that state who had used skin-lightening products. In 
      all, investigators in the two states collected information and urine specimens 
      for 22 persons in five households. The results indicated that 15 persons had 
      elevated urinary mercury concentrations, including nine users of the cream (six 
      with nonspecific symptoms) and six nonusers. Mercury vapor concentrations as high 
      as 50 microg/m3 were measured in spot household locations; however, the overall 
      concentration for each room in all five households was <1.0 microg/m3, considered a 
      safe level. Both health departments advised users and the public to stop using 
      these creams and issued clinical health alerts notifying physicians about this 
      potential cause of mercury toxicity.
CN  - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
LA  - eng
PT  - Case Reports
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - United States
TA  - MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep
JT  - MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report
JID - 7802429
RN  - 0 (Bleaching Agents)
RN  - 0 (Cosmetics)
RN  - FXS1BY2PGL (Mercury)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Adult
MH  - Air Pollution, Indoor/analysis
MH  - Bleaching Agents/*chemistry
MH  - California
MH  - Child
MH  - Child, Preschool
MH  - Cosmetics/*chemistry
MH  - Environmental Exposure/*analysis
MH  - Family
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Infant
MH  - Male
MH  - Mercury/*analysis/blood/urine
MH  - Mercury Poisoning/*etiology
MH  - Mexico
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Skin Pigmentation
MH  - Virginia
MH  - Young Adult
EDAT- 2012/01/20 06:00
MHDA- 2012/03/01 06:00
CRDT- 2012/01/20 06:00
PHST- 2012/01/20 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2012/01/20 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2012/03/01 06:00 [medline]
AID - mm6102a3 [pii]
PST - ppublish
SO  - MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2012 Jan 20;61(2):33-6.