A whitened face woman with nephrotic syndrome.
Skin whitening cream from developing countries is a recognized source of chronic mercury poisoning. The authors report on a 34-year-old Indonesian domestic helper who presented with nephrotic syndrome secondary to membranous nephropathy. It was subsequently found that she used a skin whitening cream regularly that was found to contain a mercury level of almost 2,000 times above the allowable limit. Her blood and urinary mercury levels were both grossly elevated. Her symptoms improved after she stopped using the cream. However, she returned to her home country before chelating therapy could be arranged. Because mercury-containing skin products are still widely available in developing countries, the use of these products should be considered a possible cause of membranous nephropathy in immigrants from those countries.
Soo
Yannie Oi-Yan
YO
Department of Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China.
Chow
Kai-Ming
KM
Lam
Christopher Wai-Kei
CW
Lai
Fernand Mac-Moune
FM
Szeto
Cheuk-Chun
CC
Chan
Michael Ho-Ming
MH
Li
Philip Kam-Tao
PK
D000328:Adult; D000842:Ankle; D003358:Cosmetics / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D004487:Edema / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000652:urine; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D015433:Glomerulonephritis, Membranous / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000150:complications / Q000652:urine; D006723:Hong Kong / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008628:Mercury / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D008630:Mercury Poisoning / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000652:urine; D009404:Nephrotic Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000652:urine
D003358:Cosmetics; D008628:Mercury