Mercury poisoning associated with beauty cream--Texas, New Mexico, and California, 1995-1996.

The Texas Department of Health (TDH), New Mexico Department of Health (NMDH), and San Diego County Health Department (SDCHD) recently investigated three cases of mercury poisoning among persons who had used a beauty cream produced in Mexico. The investigations implicated the beauty cream as the source of the mercury. The cream, marketed as "Crema de Belleza--Manning," lists "calomel" (mercurous chloride) as an ingredient and was found to contain 6%-8% mercury by weight. This report summarizes the ongoing investigation of these and other possible cases.