A 47 - year - old woman showed up at the pinch room near her home in Sacramento , California , suffering from apathy in her hands and face , as well as slurred lecture and difficulty walk .
Her symptoms continued to get worse over the next few hebdomad , KCRA - TV write up , and she has since slipped into a semi - comatose state . Tests showed that her profligate contained eminent levels of Hg . for find out the cause , doctor tested her cosmetic products and trace the source : A pot of Pond’s - labeled anti - wrinkle cream , defile with dangerous levels of methylmercury , which wellness authorities think was added by a third party , not by Pond ’s themselves .
Methylmercury , a substance more toxic than inorganic mercury , can amass in the body over metre and introduce the nervous organization . While Pisces the Fishes such as tuna hold back humble levels of it , waste or coming into contact with too much of it can result in methylmercury poisoning , whichcan causepoor cognitive mathematical function , blindness , and impaired lung affair .
It is the same chemical compound responsible for over1,700 death in Minamata urban center , Japan , after a chemical industrial plant released it in sewer water into Minamata Bay from 1932 to 1968 . The chemical compound accumulated in shellfish and other Pisces in the bay laurel and Shiranui Sea , which then caused quicksilver toxic condition when consumed by the local population . creature in the domain were not unmoved . Before the poisoning was noticed in human populations , resident mention big cat making foreign " terpsichore " motions , convulsing and making weird disturbance before they died , in what became known as " dance cat-o'-nine-tails fever " .
Over the last nine twelvemonth , there have been over 60 toxic condition linked to the less toxic form of mercury , mercurous chloride or mercurous chloride , in unlabeled , homemade , or foreign - brand name skin creams , usually sell in modest stores , swop meets , or on the Internet . Some products have been line up to contain over 200,000 times the sound limit of hydrargyrum , allot tothe Sacramento County Department of Health Services(SCDHS ) .
The cleaning lady , who is still in a semi - comatose country , is the first case involving the more toxic methylmercury , and the SCDHS is urging the populace to block off using standardised product and look out for symptoms of poisoning , particularly significant and suckle women and children .
“ Sacramento County Public Health urges the biotic community to immediately block using alike cutis creams imported from Mexico due to the risk of taint with methylmercury , ” said Sacramento County Public Health Officer Dr Olivia Kasirye , ABC News report .
“ Methylmercury is extremely grave to adults and children . ”
symptom in adult includedifficulty concentrating , memory loss , tremors , vexation , and anxiousness , while in children you should depend out for pinkish hands and pes , flaking skin , extravagant saliva , hungriness , and irritability .
