Hazardous Products: Mercury in Soaps and Creams

Certain skin-lightening creams and medicated soaps can contain mercury. Soaps and creams containing mercury are banned in the United States, but may be available for purchase over the counter or on the Internet.

The mercury in these types of products can be absorbed through your skin. Mercury can damage the brain, nervous system and kidneys. It may also damage the skin, cause rashes and blotchy spots, and give skin a grayish color.

The longer and more often products containing mercury are used, the greater the health risk. These products can be especially harmful to children.

How to Identify Dangerous Soaps and Creams

Products may contain mercury, even if it is not listed as an ingredient on the label. Check packaging materials and any instructions or ingredient lists carefully. Look for:

• “Hg” (the chemical symbol for mercury) or the word “mercury”
• Mercuric iodide, mercuric chloride, mercurous chloride, ammoniated mercury, calomel, mercurio, amide chloride of mercury or mercury oxide
• Instructions to avoid contact with silver, gold, rubber, aluminum and jewelry

Listed below are some skin-lightening creams and medicated soaps that have been found to contain high levels of mercury. Click on the warning sign links to print signs.

Call 311 to report a store selling products found to contain mercury.

If You Have Used These Products

Immediately stop using skin-lightening creams and medicated soaps that contain elevated mercury or list mercury as an ingredient.

If you use non-prescription products to lighten your skin or for skin disorders, talk to your doctor. If you do not have a doctor, call 311.

Appropriately dispose of mercury containing products. Do not throw these products in the trash. Place unused product(s) in a sealed plastic bag until they can be disposed of properly at an NYC Department of Sanitation SAFE Disposal Event location. Thoroughly wash your hands and other exposed body parts that touched the products. You should wash surfaces that came into contact with these products.

Be sure to keep these and other hazardous consumer products out of reach of children.

For more information about mercury and health, call the Poison Control Center at 212-POISONS (212-764-7667).

Additional Resources

• Skin-Lightening Cream Health Warning Sign (PDF)
• Skin-Lightening Creams Warning Postcard (PDF)
  Other Languages: Español | 繁體中文 | 简体中文 | বাংলা | Français | اردو
• Lead, Mercury and Arsenic in Consumer Products Factsheet (PDF)
  Other Languages: Español | 中文 | 简体中文 | Français | العربية | हिन्दी | اردو | ਪੰਜਾਬੀ | Português | Русский | ײִדיש | বাংলা
• Population-Based Inorganic Mercury Biomonitoring
• FDA: Skin Products Containing Mercury

More Information

• Mercury
• Hazardous Consumer Products
• Cosmetics and Religious Powders