TOTAL MERCURY CONTENT OF SKIN TONING CREAMS AND THE POTENTIAL RISK TO THE HEALTH OF WOMEN IN GHANA

The use of mercury containing skin toning creams is becoming increasingly popular among darkskinned women. The prolonged use of them over the years may cause serious health effects. In the study sixty nine (69) samples of skin toning creams were analysed for total mercury by cold vapour atomic absorption spectrophotometry using an automatic mercury analyzer. The concentration of mercury in the creams ranged from below 0.001 to 0.311 μg g -1 . All the creams sampled had concentrations less than the US Food and Drug Administration's acceptable limit of 1 μg g -1 . The low concentrations of mercury detected in the cream samples analysed therefore do not pose any potential mercury related health risk to the population particularly women Keywords : mercury, skin toning cream, women, health Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 28 (1) 2008 pp. 88-96