Determination of Mercury Contents in Some Commercially Available Skin-Lightening Creams in Benghazi-Libya Markets

Mercury and its compounds are well known to have toxic effects on human body. Many research studies have reported in this field. These studies found that the prolong using of the skin whitening and lightening creams lead to accumulation of mercury in human body. As a result of that, the damage to the brain, nervous system and kidneys, can occur. In this study, the concentrations of total mercury metal in six top selling skin lightening creams sold in local markets in Benghazi, Libya were analyzed. The Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometric (CV-AAS) method was used for mercury determination after suitable wet digestion process. In all analyzed samples, mercury was detected, with concentrations ranged between 0.2500 to 2.0950 ppm. The concentration of mercury in four samples exceeded the maximum permissible value for mercury in cosmetic products set by World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Drugs Administration (FDA). The results of the present work revealed that the analyzed creams were contaminated with mercury; making risk of toxicity for consumers.