State regulators on Monday warned consumers that certain skin creams commonly sold at flea markets contain unsafe levels of mercury.
Officials recently ran tests on La Tía Mána and a similar, unlabeled cream and found high levels of mercury in both, according to a press release from the California Department of Public Health.
Regular or prolonged exposure to mercury, a toxic chemical, can result in mercury poisoning, officials said.
Symptoms of mercury poisoning include muscle weakness, fatigue, irritability, depression, nervousness, difficulty concentrating or remembering, tremors and tingling or numbness in hands, feet or around the mouth.
La Tía Mána is distributed by a company in Oxnard, according to its Facebook page. It also appears the skin product had been sold on Amazon, though the listing has been removed.
So far no illnesses have been linked to La Tía Mána, but similar creams have been associated with health issues nationwide, regulators said.
Public health officials urged consumers to stop using the products immediately, along with any skin cream that includes mercury, mercurio, mercurous chloride, cinnabar or calomel in its ingredients. Any product packaged without a label should be avoided, officials added.
If you have any of these symptoms and think they may be the result of these skin products, see your health care provider.
For more information, contact the California Poison Control System at 800-222-1222, or the California Safe Cosmetics Program’s hotline at 877-325-3223.