Okay, so it no longer news that Nigerians use bleaching creams more than any other country in the world! All thanks to all the slay mamas and slay daddies. They have successfully transformed a practice that was hitherto considered sinful and repugnant into a trend that everyone now wants to adopt. And what does that do to the bleaching cream cosmetic industry? It makes it boom! And that is precisely the state of things: the industry is a multi billion dollar industry.
Say whatever you like, bleaching has come to stay, at least for the next 100 years or more. So even with all the health concerns, more people are still still buying them. Either you educate people on how to use the creams in a safe and healthy manner or you force the cosmetics producers to produce new products with nontoxic active ingredients or you can decide to preach from now till tomorrow and watch the incidence of skin cancer soar like an eagle!
I choose to do the first one though: to educate people on how to use these products in safe and healthy manner. That said, you must understand that there good bleaching creams and there are very bad ones that can harm you, especially when used over a long period of time. These bad bleaching creams are the ones with active ingredients that have been blacklisted as unsafe for human use.
So just before you start using that bleaching cream you just bought, check for the following active ingredients on the labels and if present, return the creams or just flush them down the toilet!

1. Mercury:
this is a very toxic and heavy metal that has been banned for its use in bleaching creams in most European countries and even in some African countries like Ivory Coast. However, due to poor regulatory frameworks in Africa, bleaching creams laden with mercury are still finding their way into the hands of millions of people. Mercury, after having accumulated in the body, causes kidney failure and has been known to lower the skin's resistance to fungal infections.

2. Hydroquinone:
hydroquinone is another commonly used but toxic ingredient in bleaching creams. While it usually works fine at the beginning, hydroquinone can, later on, darken the skin and permanently discolour it. Any cream that has hydroquinone in excess of 2% (usaully considered as the safe limit) should be flushed down the drain.

3. Mineral oil:
mineral oil, quite unfortunately, is one of the commonest ingredients in not just bleaching creams but also in most nonbleaching creams and even baby lotions. It is derived from petroleum and was previously used as a lubricant in machines. It has no nutritional value whatsoever to the skin. Its only charm is that it moisturizes the skin. But don't be deceived. Even with this, it succeeds in plugging the pores of your skin, thereby trapping, underneath the skin, dead bacteria which naturally should have been excreted with sweat. So what do you get in return for the very brief, deceptive moisturizing feel of mineral oil? Acne! Lots of acne. Also, it has been found that prolong use of mineral oil interferes with the endocrine system and can lead to miscarriages, endometriosis and ovulation dysfunction.

4. Parabens: this one has been found to be carcinogenic (it causes cancer). It is usually used as a preservative in bleaching creams because it prolongs the shelf life of the creams. However, it causes cancer and has also been found to cause infertiliy by interfering with the endocrine system.

5. Steroids:
steroids are often prescribed for people who have eczema, psoriasis, etc in the form of lotions. Also, it can be inhaled as vapours in patients with asthma to lessen the severity of their attacks. It has other numerous medical uses as well. However, because of it also causes skin lightening, more or less as a side effect, a lot of cosmetics producers often include it in their bleaching creams in the form of hydrocortisone.
Usually, problems don't arise when used mildly in no more than 4 weeks. Complications start to manifest when creams with stronger concentrations of hydrocortisone are used for longer periods of time. And the complications are quite grave: hypertension, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, ulcers, skin thinning, cataracts and a host of other terrible diseases. The fact is that even when prescribed as treatment for any medical condition, its use is tightly controlled and monitored by the prescribing doctor, and is promptly discontinued at the first notice of side effects.
Thanks for reading. For more information visit www.doctorshub.com.ng