You know that mercury poisoning is bad news. Mercury affects your central nervous system and can leave your permanently disabled. But we protect ourselves from mercury pretty well, right? Mercury thermometers are gone, we don’t use heavy metals in cosmetics or paint and don’t encounter mercury on our day to day life. But what about methylmercury?

Methylmercury – organometallic cation with the formula [CH3Hg]+. It is commonly used in fluorescent lights, batteries, and polyvinyl chloride. In fact, it is described as a common pollutant of air and water. Methylmercury (ethyl mercury or thiomersal) at very low concentrations is used in vaccines, although thiomersal-free vaccines are available. But methylmercury is still very much possible even today.

One woman in California was left unable to take care of herself due to a skin whitening cream that she’s been using for seven years. You might wonder, why would anyone allow mercury in skin products. But this one came from Mexico and was not approved. Now that woman is left with permanent nerve damage, relies on an ongoing tube feeding for nutritional support and cannot speak. This was the first known case of methylmercury poisoning in the United States in nearly 50 years.

Methylmercury is liquid at room temperature, which makes it very easy to be used in cosmetics and other similar products. Of course, no one should use it. Sometimes skin-lightening creams are intentionally tainted with inorganic mercury, because it does exactly that – brightens the skin. However, organic mercury, such as methylmercury, is far more toxic.

Symptoms of methylmercury poisoning include cerebral palsy, blindness and deafness, impairment of mental function, breathing problems. In most severe cases people can lose their ability to speak, eat, walk and even think. Of course, as you might imagine, major manufacturers of cosmetics do not use mercury in their products, so how people can get methylmercury poisoning?

It is actually a problem of homemade or illegally produced skincare products. If the package of some sort of a cream is damaged or opened, if the label is altered or hand-written, if the cream looks suspiciously made, do not buy it, do not use it. It is not worth saving a couple of dollars and risking your health that bad. In fact, skin lightening creams in general are not the best idea – your skin is the colour it is and attempts to change it may cause problems.

On the other hand, methylmercury is very rare. Buy products from trusted manufacturers and stores and you will be fine. Be cautious about what you are putting on your skin and you will be ok.