Mercury exposure and health risks associated with use of skin-lightening products: A systematic review

Abstract

Background: The Minamata Convention on Mercury (Article 4) prohibits the manufacture, import or export of skin-lightening products containing mercury concentrations above 1 ppm. However, there is a lack of knowledge surrounding the global prevalence of mercury-added skin-lightening products. Objective: The objective of this study was to increase our understanding of worldwide human mercury exposure and associated health risks from the use of skin-lightening products. Methods: A systematic search of peer-reviewed scientific literature was performed in four databases (PubMed, Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus, and Toxline). The initial search in July of 2018 identified 1,711 unique scientific articles, of which 34 were ultimately deemed eligible for inclusion after iterative screens at the title, abstract, and whole text levels. A second search was performed in November of 2020 using the same methods, of which another 7 scientific articles were included. All papers were organized according to four data groups 1) "Mercury in products", 2) "Usage of products", 3) "Human biomarkers of exposure"; and 4) "Health impacts", prior to data extraction and synthesis. Results: This review was based on data contained within 41 peer-reviewed scientific papers from 22 countries worldwide published between 2000 and 2020. In total, we captured mercury concentration values from 787 skin-lightening product samples (overall pooled central median mercury level was 0.49 µg/g, IQR: 0.02-5.9) and 1,042 human biomarker measurements from 863 individuals. We also synthesized usage information from 3,898 individuals, and self-reported health impacts associated with using mercury-added products from 832 individuals. Discussion: This review suggests that mercury widely exists as an active ingredient in many skin-lightening products worldwide, and that users are at risk of variable, and often high exposures. These synthesized findings help increase our understanding of the health risks associated with the use of these products.