The contents of illegal skin whitening products in Thailand were studied in recent research. Let’s have a look at what chromatography has discovered in Thai skin creams.
Skin cream that is toxic
Men and women from racial and ethnic minority groups are targeted for skin whitening treatments, although they can also be used to lighten blemishes and acne scars. However, certain creams are harmful, according to the LGA, which states that “very toxic skin lightening creams that act like paint stripper and raise the risk of cancer are being marketed on high streets.”
Genuine creams can be costly to purchase and get on prescription. As a result, the market for illegal creams, which might be affordable and easy to manufacture. According to the LGA, the market might increase in the next ten years, implying the usage of even more substandard, unlawful, and probably dangerous creams.
Chromatography measures the amount of a hydroquinone
Illegal substances can be found in some unlawful creams, and some of them can cause considerable injury. The bleaching ingredient hydroquinone, characterized in the LGA press release as the biological equivalent of paint remover, is one of the most extensively utilized components in skin whitening lotions. Hydroquinone is a powerful skin bleaching chemical that works by blocking the enzyme tyrosinase, which is responsible for the creation of melanin.
Although hydroquinone has been used in cosmetics in the past, it was banned in the 1990s due to its unfavorable long-term consequences. Unfortunately, hydroquinone is still utilized in some goods, and the above-mentioned paper from Thailand looked into the usage of hydroquinone in skin whitening creams.
Hydroquinone levels were determined using chromatography. The article Increasing HPLC / UHPLC Sample Throughput: Doing More in Less Time discusses using chromatography to analyze samples. Hydroquinone was discovered in around 6% of the samples analyzed by Thai researchers. Consumers should be cautious.