WOMEN should check their make-up bags to ensure they do not have potentially dangerous brands of face cream, the Consumer Council warned yesterday.
Tests on 21 brands of pearl cream on sale in Hong Kong found six with traces of the heavy metal mercury.
Four of these exceeded the safety limit set by the United States Food and Drugs Administration (FDA).
Prolonged absorption of mercury by the body could cause nervous disorders, damage to liver and kidneys, harm eyesight and provoke skin allergies, the council warned.
The council's chief research and safety officer Connie Lau Yin-hing said: ''People should be especially careful if their skin is broken.'' Pearl cream is used to whiten the face.
The six creams containing mercury were Beanne Extra Pearl Cream made in the US, Cupid Pearl Nourishing Cream from Taiwan, Ginseng Extra Pearl Cream (origin unknown), Yong Chin Nourishion Cream (origin unknown), Soothe Pearl Cream from Taiwan and Ni Lai Pearl Cream (origin unknown).