By Dr. S. Allen Counter, Globe Correspondent, 12/16/2003

Earlier this year, I was asked by the editor of an international biomedical journal to write a review article on the effects of mercury exposure on children, an area in which I have conducted scientific studies for the past seven years. I was surprised by the results.

Mexico and Nigeria and the border states of California, Texas and Arizona all show extremely high rates of mercury poisoning.

In clinics in Arizona, for example, doctors had observed more than 300 patients who had toxic levels of mercury in their urine. I found medical reports of similarly high levels of mercury poisoning among patients in Saudi Arabia, Senegal, West Africa, and in Tanzania in East Africa. Even among newly arrived Bosnian and Albanian refugees in Germany, doctors have found patients with toxic levels of this same type of mercury.

One of my first clues to unraveling this mystery turned out to be basic geography: Most of the reported mercury-poisoning cases were found in nations in the lower latitudes.

The second clue: In Mexico, as in other countries such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, most of the patients with clinical evidence of mercury poisoning were women. Even in the Southwestern Unites States, 96 percent of the more than 300 patients found to have abnormal mercury levels were female.

In every case, clinical questioning revealed that the women had used skin-whitening creams — many for years. In other words, these women had tried so desperately to whiten their skin color that they had poisoned their bodies by applying mercury-based “beauty creams.”

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Skin whitening products have grown in demand as the response for uneven pigmentation such as age spots, freckles, dark underarms, knees, elbows, acne scars or inner thighs. Here are a few factors for a whiter skin.

Look for a sunscreen that blocks both UVA and UVB rays, because not all sunscreen have both. Avoid overexposure to the sun particularly between 10am-3pm. Wearing sunscreen is a must, whether you’re using skin lightening products or not. Another one is to use your favorite moisturizers plus skin lighteners. Skin whitening procedures needs hydration to give a flushed, whiter result. Lastly, take your Vitamin C supplement, a daily dose of this vitamin is a great antioxidant that helps promote healthy skin and reduces the production of melanin.

Some skin whitening products can be bought over the counter without a prescription from a doctor; some are injected for a much faster result, while others are just home-made. Aside from that, manufacturer’s release almost every month a new product that lightens your skin, from lotions, soaps, to facial scrubs, to those taken orally.

If you really want a whiter complexion, you can opt to go for skin whitening treatments. Just make sure that you check your skin first and it’s becoming dull and has lost its glow, then its time for you to consult a dermatologist for advice.

Vitamin C can also be effective at inhibiting melanin production. However, the tests that show it to be effective have used a concentration of over 5%, which is much more than what is usually used in cosmetic products. Vitamin C is also notoriously unstable, which means that by the time a cosmetic product containing it gets home to you it may have broken down and become useless. For this reason, Vitamin C is a last resort skin whitening treatment for those who can’t use the other topical treatments for one reason or another. It is also the cheapest product since you can also get it from extracts.

by Andrea

Licorice is a plant that originally found in the cities of Europe and China. Its root juice has been used for hundreds of years, as tea, for other flavorings and additional benefits as well. In the early nineties, the Japanese scientists discovered a separate clear-cut compounds in licorice that is valuable and important for skin care. These were: Glabridin, recognized as a powerful and effective skin whitening element widely used in  manufacturing of soaps, lotions, and other creams.; Glabrene as an anti-oxidant and is  powerful as natural Vitamin E; and Licochalcone as highly useful anti-acne ingredient which manage sebum creation and wipes away bacteria.

Today is the age where we have various ways of making ourselves whiter. Our skin normally solicits its color from hereditary traits and apparently some people want to improve on it. For most, it is important, particularly the women. But just make sure you do not overdo it. Excess whitening of your skin may make you look closer to a ghost.

Indeed, this stems from the fact that people want to project good looks. White skin is one factor for men to consider in women. While it is not a general claim, people are just picky when it comes to skin color.

Fruits have been known to provide needed results. Apparently we have already discussed about calamansi, a citrus, to help in whitening certain portions of they body. Papaya is another one and normally you will notice it among products today.

From soap to lotions, just check out the ingredients. This fruit is present. In fact some manufacturers add it to the name of the product to really gain attention. With that in mind, papaya is something more than eating. It can provide desired results in the area of skin improvement. Skin whitening happens to be one of them if you haven’t noticed yet.