{"id":4596,"date":"2023-03-27T09:24:44","date_gmt":"2023-03-27T07:24:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jphres.org\/?p=4596"},"modified":"2023-04-02T14:17:09","modified_gmt":"2023-04-02T12:17:09","slug":"the-evaluation-of-total-mercury-and-arsenic-in-skin-bleaching-creams-commonly-used-in-trinidad-and-tobago-and-their-potential-risk-to-the-people-of-the-caribbean","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.jphres.us.com\/index.php\/jphres\/article\/view\/1097\/","title":{"rendered":"The evaluation of total mercury and arsenic in skin bleaching creams commonly used in Trinidad and Tobago and their potential risk to the people of the Caribbean"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"item doi\"><span class=\"value\"><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4081\/jphr.2017.1097\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4081\/jphr.2017.1097<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<ul class=\"item authors\">\n<li><span class=\"name\"><strong>Terry Mohammed<\/strong><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"affiliation\">Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"name\"><strong>Elisabeth Mohammed<\/strong><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"affiliation\">Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"name\"><strong>Shermel Bascombe<\/strong><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"affiliation\">Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"item abstract\">\n<h3 class=\"label\">ABSTRACT<\/h3>\n<p><em>Background<\/em>. Skin lightening is very popular among women and some men of the Caribbean, and its popularity appears to be growing. The lightening of skin colour is done to produce a lighter complexion which is believed to increase attractiveness, social standing and improves one\u2019s potential of being successful.<br \/>\n<em>Design and Methods.\u00a0<\/em>Fifteen (15) common skin lightening creams found in pharmacies and cosmetic retailers throughout Trinidad and Tobago were evaluated for Mercury by Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (CVAAS) and Arsenic by Hydride Generation Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (HGAAS). The results obtained were compared to global standards and previous research.<br \/>\n<em>Results<\/em>. Fourteen (14) of the fifteen samples analysed contained Mercury in the range of 0.473 \u03bcg\/g to 0.766 \u03bcg\/g. One sample had a Mercury content of 14,507.74\u00b1490.75 \u03bcg\/g which was over 14,000 times higher than the USFDA limit for mercury in cosmetics of 1 \u03bcg\/g. All samples contained Arsenic in the range 1.016 \u03bcg\/g to 6.612 \u03bcg\/g, which exceeds the EU limit for cosmetics of 0 \u03bcg\/g.<br \/>\n<em>Conclusions<\/em>. All the samples analysed contained significant amounts of Mercury and Arsenic and none of them can be considered safe for prolonged human use. The samples that contained Mercury levels which were lower than the USFDA limit contained Arsenic levels which exceeded the EU standard of 0 \u03bcg\/g in cosmetics. The popularity of these skin lightening creams in the Caribbean region places the population at elevated risk of chronic Mercury and Arsenic poisoning and possibly acute Mercury Poisoning.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4081\/jphr.2017.1097 Terry Mohammed Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. Elisabeth Mohammed Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. Shermel Bascombe Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, The University &#8230; <a title=\"The evaluation of total mercury and arsenic in skin bleaching creams commonly used in Trinidad and Tobago and their potential risk to the people of the Caribbean\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jphres.us.com\/index.php\/jphres\/article\/view\/1097\/\" aria-label=\"More on The evaluation of total mercury and arsenic in skin bleaching creams commonly used in Trinidad and Tobago and their potential risk to the people of the Caribbean\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4596","page","type-page","status-publish"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The evaluation of total mercury and arsenic in skin bleaching creams commonly used in Trinidad and Tobago and their potential risk to the people of the Caribbean - Journal of Public Health Research<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jphres.us.com\/index.php\/jphres\/article\/view\/1097\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The evaluation of total mercury and arsenic in skin bleaching creams commonly used in Trinidad and Tobago and their potential risk to the people of the Caribbean - Journal of Public Health Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4081\/jphr.2017.1097 Terry Mohammed Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. Elisabeth Mohammed Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. Shermel Bascombe Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, The University ... 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Elisabeth Mohammed Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. Shermel Bascombe Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, The University ... 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