BLEACHING CREAMS for it. The steadily increasing sale of the product, without serious com- plaint on the part of the users, indi- cated that these locally observed result. were being obtained by our customers. Imagine too, if you will, our concern and alarm when our industry was suddenly confronted with the criticism--or accusation, supported by government bodies that ore' products'• would not act as claimed were not only harmful but were positively dangerous to the health and lives of our customers. We suddenly discovered that we, by studies and research, must provide the answers to two questions. First, are they safe for general use ? Second, are they effective ? My presence here today indicates that the answer to both questions was afftrmative, for if the answer to either had been negative, our bra.nch of the cosmetic industry would have disappeared. Our newly formed association, The External Products Research Institute, was fortunate to have *d•,e direction and advice of Dr. O. •. Gibbs, who performed the major part of our research--pharma- cology. A thorough search of the literature on mercury indicated in a general way that our products were safe and would, as we advertise, lighten, clear and beautify the skin. However, no direct experimental records based on purely objective findings could be di•overed. We, therefore, embarked upon what to us was a long and expensive pro- gramme of research. Since the most serious criticism was regarding the safety of Ammoniated Mercury Oint- ments, this received our first and major consideration. We had to know: 1. How much of the applied mercury salt is absorbed. 2. Is it stored in the body ? 3. Does it, like lead, replace the calcium in the bone structure, to be suddenly released under certain pathological condi- tions with the same resulting serious illness ? 4. Does it danaage the skin ? Studies by Gibbs •.'• on pharma- cology, Cash-King * on radiologs,, Sulzberger • on dermatology, have provided us with the answers to these questions of danger. Cash-King made a radiographic study of 13 individuals who were employed for periods varying from 6 months to 32 years, in the preparation of a certain Bleaching Cream. He made the same studies on 70 rats and 24 rab- bits. On the animal:• there were a certain number of controls that re- ceived X-ray studies for comparison. His conclusion, taken verbatim from his report is, "After repeated studies of all the X-ray examinations I made, I am of the opinion that there is no X-ray evidence of any storage o.f heavy metals in the bone struc- ture or soft tissues" This is con- firmed by Gibbs 'q who, after exten- sive chemical analysis of various bones and body tissues, states, "There is no question that mercury is not stored in the body to form dangerous reservoirs" The pharmacological research of Gibbs s, which has been recognlsed 177

JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY both here and abroad as an out- standing study of mercury, contains a wealth of interesting information. Mercury is not a foreign substance to the human body.' It is present in the bone and tissues. This find- ing is confirmed by the earlier work of Stock% Bodnar, Odon and Werz- preny 7. Mercury is also in foods. An analysis of 32 commonly used foods, including milk, bread, meat, fish, canned goods, etc., showed that mercury. was present in all of them except fresh vegetables, salty crackers and fresh eggs. The total amount which may be ingested daily in the normal conmmpton of approximately 5 pounds of food is from 5 to 20 gamma. These findings established beyond a reasonable doubt the fact that the absorption of small amounts of mercury is the inevitable concommitant of •rdin- ary daily life, and the presence of these small amounts in the excreta or tissues presents no danger to the individual. There is a constant daily stream of from 5 to 20 gamma pass- ing through the human body. The interesting question--Does the daily use of Bleaching Creams containing Ammoniated Mercury increase this daily stream to dangerous levels?-- i• also answered. The normal aver- age in,take and output of mercury is approximately 20 gamma per day. The use of 10 per cent Ammoniated Mercury ointments over an extended period of time increases this figure to approximately 30 gamma--an insignificant increase without toxo- logical significance. Gibbs' work shows that 1/3800 of 178 OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS the Ammoniated Mercury applied to the skin is absorbed and excreted-- a figure closely confirmed by the work of Sollman and others • on the absorption of mercury from the ap- plication of a 50 per cent calomel ointment. A striking comparison of mercury absorption and excretion is --that if you took a medicinal dose of Calomel, 1 grain, you would absorb and excrete over the next few days the same amount of mer- cury that you would if you applied a 10 per cent Ammoniated Mercury Ointment on your face daily for 8-1/3 years. This significant re- search told us exactly how much of the applied mercury was absorbed that it was promptly eliminated that it presented only a slight in- crease to the normal stream of mer- cury which is constantly passing through our bodies. Dr. Sulzberger 4 performed a clinical study, designed primarily_ to determine whether or not irrita- tions would be produced by the local application of mercurial ointments, of various concentrations. After 4 weeks of daily application to the sen- sitive flexor surface of the arms, he found no sensitisation or irritation from the use of the 5 per cent Am- moniated Mercury Ointment, which is the percentage now in common use. This is in accord with the records of the National Toilet Com- pany, which in 1947 showed only one report of this na•ture for every 325 M packages sold ø This answers the question as to whether or not it damages the skin. Our second group of questions is: