FDA Ponders Ban On Skin-Bleaching Creams

The Food and Drug Administration yesterday proposed a ban on over-the-counter sales of skin-lightening products, saying possible health risks cannot justify their being sold without a prescription.

The creams typically contain a drug called hydroquinone, a possible carcinogen also linked to a skin-disfiguring condition.

While the actual risk of the drug is unknown, the agency said the products should be restricted to prescription use under medical supervision.

An estimated 65 companies in the United States sell roughly 130 different skin-bleaching creams and other products that contain hydroquinone. Studies on rodents show only "some evidence" that hydroquinone may cause cancer. However, the drug's link to a disfiguring condition called ochronosis has been widely documented since 1975 in black women and men in South Africa, Britain and the U.S. Under the proposed FDA rule, all skin-bleaching products -- prescription and over-the-counter -- would be considered new drugs. Manufacturers would have to seek FDA approval to sell them, and only then with a doctor's note.


The real question to ponder should be why folks are bleaching their skin in the first place.

The reasons: internalized racism and low self-esteem.

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