[Image: CNN]

Woman Goes Blind After Using Skin Bleaching Chemicals

 

In an alarming development for skin-bleaching enthusiasts, a US woman is reported to have become partially blind after losing part of her vision due to using skin-bleaching chemicals.

The Minnesota woman, who is also a mother, lost her peripheral vision after using beauty creams containing toxic levels of mercury. Mercury is a highly poisonous metal.

CNN revealed the startling case. According to the news broadcaster, details of the woman becoming blind due to using skin bleaching creams were contained in a case study carried out by the Minnesota Poison Control System (MPCS).

Dr Erin Batdorff of the MPCS warned that people can get mercury poisoning from some of the skin-bleaching chemicals.

Bleaching Gone Wrong! Woman Goes Blind After Using Skin Lightening Chemicals
[Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto/New York Post]

Dr Batdorff, who is also a fellow in medical toxicology, warned that some of the skin lighteners are not properly labelled and have toxic side effects.

“People have no idea.

“No one intentionally wants to hurt themselves or their family members.

“But it’s out there, and you can’t see it, you can’t smell it. There’s no way [for consumers] to know whether [mercury] is in the creams or not because it’s not on the labels.”

 

The unfortunate woman, whose identity has been withheld to protect her privacy, was referred to Dr Batdorff’s team after suffering several symptoms. These include insomnia, leg pain, muscle weakness, fatigue and the loss of her peripheral vision.

Tests carried out by Dr Batdorff, and his team revealed that the woman, who is of Somali descent, had elevated levels of mercury in her blood and urine.

Unfortunately, according to Dr Batdorff, the woman’s partial blindness cannot be reversed.

 

“She will not recover her vision.

“So being a young woman that now has vision loss is really frightening and pretty concerning,” Batdorff told CNN.

 

Bleaching Gone Wrong! Woman Goes Blind After Using Skin Lightening Chemicals
Woman Goes Blind After Using Skin Bleaching Chemicals [Image: CNN]

The medical toxicologist also warned that many more people are likely being exposed to toxic mercury levels through skin-bleaching chemicals. He added that most may not be showing symptoms yet.

During their first home visit to the woman’s home Batdorff and the MPCA found two skin whitening beauty creams. The Minnesota woman said she was no longer using the bleaching products.

Tests revealed that the two skin bleaching products contained mercury levels several thousand times higher than the permitted levels of 1 part per million (ppm) in cosmetics.

Mercury was also not listed as one of the ingredients in the products.

 



A year later, in 2022, Batdorff and the MPCA paid the woman another home visit. This time they found two skin lightening products, which had extremely high levels of mercury of 11,000 and 18,000 ppm.

According to CNN,

“Mercury has long been used in skin whitening products due to its ability to block the production of melanin, the pigment that gives colour to the skin. US Federal Drug Agency regulations and the Minamata Convention on Mercury — an international treaty to protect human health and the environment from mercury — limit the use of mercury in cosmetics, excluding those used around the eye area, to 1mg/kg of mercury, also known as 1 part per million (ppm).”

The inorganic mercury typically found in these skin bleaching products is extremely toxic at high levels.

Long-term exposure can lead to kidney and liver damage, neurological damage including personality changes, anxiety, depression, early childhood development issues and, as seemingly shown in this case, vision loss.

Dr Batdorff added,

“With inorganic mercury, it’s that chronic long-term exposure that concerns me the most.

“It’s more subtle but ends up building up in our system and is hard to eliminate, especially when it gets into the brain … and once mercury has crossed over into the brain and our nervous system, it can cause a lot of different side effects.”

 

Amira Adawe, Founder and Executive Director of the Beautywell Project, which works to address colourism and the harms of skin whitening, added,

 

“The use of skin-lightening is now a public health crisis in the Somali community and other communities of colour.

“I have met some women that have been using these products 10 to 15 years …[and] I always get phone calls from individuals who are dealing with the side effects of mercury.”

 

Bleaching Gone Wrong! Woman Goes Blind After Using Skin Lightening Chemicals
Khanyi Mbau [Images: Instagram/Khanyi Mbau]

 

Skin bleaching is very popular in Africa, and many celebrities have publicly declared that they have no shame or concerns about bleaching their bodies.

One celebrity who is unashamed about bleaching her skin is South African actress Khanyi Mbau.

Speaking on her skin colour and colourism in the entertainment industry, Khanyi revealed that she spends around R10 000 a month maintaining her complexion.

 

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