The Department of Health urges consumers not to buy and use a beauty product called Whitening Sunblock Cream (Day Cream) after receiving a report of suspected mercury poisoning involving a 39-year-old woman.

The patient sought medical treatment from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on April 1 for a skin rash. She was also told the beauty cream she bought from the Mainland and used in the past three years contained mercury.

Chemical analysis of the woman's two bottles of beauty cream showed the product's mercury content was between 34,000 parts per million and 38,000 ppm.

The tolerable limit of mercury content stipulated in the National Standard of People's Republic of China's  "Hygienic Standards for Cosmetics" is one part per million.

It is believed that the product in question is not on sale in Hong Kong as the Customs & Excise Department could not find it during spot checks at local shops yesterday.

Mercury poisoning symptoms

Symptoms of mercury poisoning include hand tremors, visual or hearing loss, memory deterioration, irritability and difficulty sleeping.

Mercury can damage kidneys, resulting in swelling from water retention, particularly in the ankles and legs. It can also pass from a mother to a fetus resulting in impaired brain development.

Since mercury is gradually passed out of the body from urine and faeces, people who have not used the cream for six months or more are unlikely to have elevated mercury levels.

For health advice, call 2575 1221 during office hours.

For enquiries and complaints regarding unsafe consumer goods, consumers can write to the Consumer Protection & Prosecution Bureau, Customs & Excise Department on the 11th floor, North Point Government Offices, 333 Java Road, North Point or call the Customs hotline, 2545 6182.