[Golden_Boy]

Hydroquinone Cream - The Truth Revealed

"There has been some controversy surrounding this powerful ingredient. In the US, hydroquinone 2% concentration and below is available over-the-counter. Hydroquinone 4% cream is a popular strength found in prescription versions.

I’ve researched various forums and reviews to find out more what others were saying about their experiences with these skin lightening products. It seems that no one denies that it works. Whether it was to fade acne scars or treating melasma, it seems that everyone agrees that this is extremely effective at lightening or “bleaching” the skin, and doing so very fast.

The controversy surrounding hydroquinone cream is not whether or not it works, but whether it is completely safe to use or not. To understand these concerns, it’s important to first take a look at the history of how it has been used during the last fifty or so years.

History
In many parts of Africa, lightening of skin is extremely popular. In fact, you could compare the popularity to that of tanning in the US. For example, In South Africa and Saudi Arabia it has been said that as much as a quarter of the adult population uses skin lightening products. For years, many people there used extremely strong concentrations of hydroquinone. This in itself is probably dangerous, but to make it worse, some used these whitening creams for years or even decades. Compare this to the US, where it’s typically applied only for a few weeks and in much lower strengths. So millions all over the world have used this ingredient, but the question is whether or not it’s safe?

Is it safe?
In studies done with rodents, it was concluded that there is “some evidence” that it is a carcinogen, or in other words, something that can cause cancer. Findings included leukemia, kidney, and liver problems. It should be worth mentioning that extremely high amounts of hydroquinone were used and it was administrated orally (but who eats face cream, right?!)

So there are two sides of the argument here. Some state that if a substance promote cancer in high concentrations, it’s not safe to use no matter how little the amount. Others make the case that humans do not orally ingest hydroquinone, and the amounts used in the studies are far more than a human would use (I read one place they used up to thousands of times the normal dosage on rats).

What’s my take on it? Well I’m not doctor so I can’t give you any medical advice, but on a personal note, I feel safe when using it as directed. I mean artificial sweeteners have also been found to cause cancer in rodents when used in high amounts… and they still put that stuff in half the food and drinks out there! I would imagine many other substances we use regularly would cause cancer if you consumed hundreds or thousands of times the regular amount.

Using It
If you have a prescription strength, it’s important to use it exactly how the doctor tells you to. If you have an over-the-counter, use it according to the manufacturers directions, and it wouldn’t hurt to run it by your dermatologist too. There are literally hundreds of different bleaching products out there that contain this ingredient. One of my favorite are Obagi skin care products. Why? Because they only manufacture cosmetic skin products and the company was founded two decades ago by one of the top dermatologists in the world. I love their products and they’re reasonably priced. I also like to buy Kinerase skincare too. They also have a number of great formulations for hydroquinone cream. The bottom line is that most people agree this ingredient is the fastest and by far the most effective way to get the job done."

VS

Hydroquinone: skin bleaching product proposed ban - The Cancer Blog

Hydroquinone: skin bleaching product proposed ban
Posted Aug 30th 2006 2:11PM by Dalene Entenmann
Filed under: Prevention, Politics, Daily news

"Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a ban on over-the-counter (OTC) sales of skin-lightening products containing hydroquinone. Hydroquinone is found in skin bleaching products used primarily for lightening age spots, skin discoloration from years of excess tanning or dark under-eye circles. Research has indicated a possible link to increased cancers.

In the US, there are over 65 companies selling more than 200 skin-bleaching products that contain hydroquinone. Hydroquinone has been banned in Japan, the European Union and Australia. The FDA now wants all OTC and prescription skin-lightening products containing hydroquinone to be classified as new drugs and companies making the skin-bleaching products would need to seek FDA approval to sell them. Likely, the products would stop being available as an OTC product. The proposed ban means that the FDA will take public comments until the end of this year before making any final action."

[Sylvanta Sybil]

I'm not a doctor either, but from where I am (Philippines) there are products that contain Hydroquinone of up to 4%, and it does not require prescription, and is not even over the counter --- you can pick it up in a shelf right next to astringents and toners. No reports so far about the dangers of Hydroquinone in here. It is pretty strong though, the skin peels off and becomes all red (depending on the concentration) then it gets lighter... But aside from that there are no obvious side-effects (or maybe nobody bothers to research here). There are 2 leading brands.

As far as I'm concerned, anything that has carbon is a carcinogen in some degree... perhaps different races react differently and have a different level of sensitivity? I'm thinking it has something to do with the skin's chemical composition, Asian skin is very different from Caucasian skin...

[MAHARANI]

Well it is banned in the Uk and any shops found selling it are subject to large fines and repeat offenders face imprisonment too. That is how serious they are taking it.

Maybe I am being naïve but I used HQ unwittingly for many years ( although not for several years now) and as far as I know I have not seen any adverse side effects and I don't believe that my skin has really suffered as a result. It seems silly that HQ is banned in some places and is completely legit elsewhere. In my opinion, I believe They should put the warnings about it clearly on the products, like they do with cigarettes and then let people decide whether they want to use it or not.

[Klaas]

It's funny though because not one person has gotten any kind of cancer from using HQ.

[Golden_Boy]

Yeah so far there's no links to cancer, just taxation on the liver and kidneys breaking it down, as it most certainly gets into the bloodstream and is removed by those organs 24/7.

Well it is banned in the Uk and any shops found selling it are subject to large fines and repeat offenders face imprisonment too. That is how serious they are taking it.

Wow MAHARANI that sure is serious!

[Sylvanta Sybil]

Yeah so far theres no links to cancer, just taxation on the liver and kidneys breaking it down, as it most certainly gets into the bloodstream and is removed by those organs 24/7.



Wow MAHARANI that sure is serious!

Yeah me neither, been using it (not years), no adverse side effects... :p

[MAHARANI]

So why are they denying people the choice. They don't stop people from smoking, yet everyone knows of the risks. I personally would prefer using something other than HQ, but I still want to be able to decide for myself.

[MAHARANI]

Wow MAHARANI that sure is serious!

Yes there was a shop in London who kept selling the stuff after the ban and was closed down and imposed with a large fine. Clearly they thought it was worth all the problems because they re-opnend and kept selling the stuff behind the counter. Clearly there was a demand for it otherwise why risk it. Got closed down again and then reopened and eventually got a custodial sentence after a large quantity of the banned products were found again.

Anyone would think they were selling class A DRUGS eh, the way they kept being targeted ?

[MAHARANI]

Actually I have my theory that there was some "skin Lightening" hater who snitched on them because as far as I know they did not openly sell their products and you had to specifically ask for an item. I believe they only sold to people they knew, in case it was a trap. It does sound like drugs doesn't it. LOL,

And this is why I say, why illegal some places and not others ?

[Golden_Boy]

Anyone would think they were selling class A DRUGS eh, the way they kept being targeted ?

LOL like heroine, yeah. Darn.