In Brief: Mercury poisoning
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Mercury poisoning: Texas and New Mexico state health departments and San Diego County Health Department investigating three cases of mercury poisoning related to use of Crema de Belleza-Manning, a beauty cream manufactured and sold in Mexico, according to the Center for Disease Control's May 17 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The cream, which contains calomel or mercurous chloride, was found to contain 6%-8% mercury by weight and was implicated as the source of mercury in the three cases, the report states. The Texas Department of Health circulated a May 16 advisory letter including an attachment of the MMWR report to the health departments of the border states as well as a separate press release recommending discontinuation of the use of the cream, according to MMWR. FDA noted that currently, there are no plans to "pull control away from the states," although the agency stressed that it would be willing to intercede if the products were found to be widely distributed in the U.S...