Blitz on skin lightening cream peddlers intensifies

Chiduwuro, confirmed the arrests but declined to disclose the number of suspects nabbed.
“Our drug squad is arresting people selling the creams daily.
“Those creams are illegal because they have not been authorised by the (Medicines Control Council of Zimbabwe) MCAZ, which is mandated by the law to register all drugs that are to be used in Zimbabwe.
“The MCAZ has not certified those creams because they contain some chemicals that will lead to long-term side effects,” said Det Insp Chiduwuro.
The women using these creams risk absorbing dangerous substances into their bloodstream leading to long-term complications.
It is understood that they are smuggled through the Nyamapanda border post.
The skin lighteners contain a chemical called hydroquinone, which suppresses the production of skin colour.
MCAZ director-general Ms Gugu Mahlangu said the creams were not meant for skin lightening but as short-term treatment for inflammation.
“If one continues to use these particular creams they expose themselves to the long-term side effects of these medicines, which are meant to be short-term therapy for inflammation,” she said.
“People have to understand that these creams were not meant to be used as cosmetics.
“Once there is prolonged use of these creams, it speeds up the turn over of the skin cells, bringing to the surface immature cells which to an uninformed person look like lightening the complexion.
“Because of that there is a possibility of the creams being absorbed into the bloodstream.”
Ms Mahlangu said when the immature skin is exposed to the rough environment, it would be burnt severely.
Some of the popular illegal creams include movate, carolite, betasol, diprozone, epidem, G ‘n’ G and bio Claire.
Several beauty and cosmetic sites indicate that these creams contain hydroquinone.
They say the chemical damages the skin by slowly breaking down collagen fibres, mutating skin cells overtime and creating extreme photosensitivity.
According to SafeCosmetics.org, hydroquinone “is a highly toxic chemical and one of the worst still found in cosmetics.”
It is understood that hydroquinone slows the production of dark pigment in the skin.
Dermatologists say prolonged use of hydroquinone products destroy the skin’s protective outer layer and may cause temporary or permanent discolouration of the skin.
“Ultimately, it can damage the nerves or even lead to kidney failure or skin cancer and so prove fatal,” says Natural Fairness website.
It goes further to say eurological effects of hydroquinone include; headache, tinnitus, dizziness, delirium, muscle-twitching, tremor and convulsions.
The website also says the other consequences of using hydroquinone products include nausea, vomiting and the production of green to brown-green urine.
Hydroquinone products have also been banned in the United States, European Union, South Africa, Japan and Australia, among other countries.