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You risk developing kidney failure and other chronic illnesses if you use fake or substandard beauty products.
Health experts have cautioned against the blind use of cosmetics which have not gone through the requisite tests to ascertain that they do not contain heavy metals that pose health risks.
Dr Evanson Kamuri, a dermatologist, says it is better to stick to renowned brands but notes that many people are attracted to substandard products due to their low price.
He warns that mercury is one of the toxic chemicals found in substandard products. The effects of the products are only felt when some organs in the body like the kidney and liver start failing. These organs help the body get rid of waste. “Even if the beauty product is just for applying (and not ingesting), the mercury will still be absorbed through your skin into the system,” Kamuri warns.
Dr Catherine Nyongesa, the chief executive of Texas Cancer Centre, says individuals who bleach their skin stand a great risk of developing skin cancer.
Besides the deadly effects of mercury the skin is left unprotected after the layer thins exposing it to harmful sunrays.
“When you lighten your skin, you leave it exposed to harmful sun rays as there is no filtering. You know the black skin is the best-because it has more melanin that offers protection-but people seem not to get that,” she says.
Mercury is considered by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as one of the top 10 serious chemicals of public health concern.
Exposure to mercury is a threat to the development of children. “Mercury may have toxic effects on the nervous, digestive and immune systems, and on lungs, kidneys, skin and eyes,” says WHO.
The level of toxicity caused by mercury depends on the form ingested. Metallic mercury which is found in fake products is the most toxic. Others are inorganic (people are exposed during their occupation), methylmercury through diet (mainly sea food like fish) and methylmercury which is a preservative in vaccines and so it is not toxic.
“These forms of mercury differ in their degree of toxicity and in their effects on the nervous, digestive and immune systems, and on lungs, kidneys, skin and eyes,” says WHO.
Other chemicals found in fake cosmetics are cyanide and arsenic. They can cause death due to increased heart rate, diarrhoea, vomiting (blood), muscle pain and convulsion. In 2015 London intellectual police confiscated fake beauty products worth Sh370 million leading to shutdown of 5,000 websites.
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