Skin bleaching in Africa: An 'addiction' with risks







Shocked, the young doctor now takes a different view on , also called lightening or whitening.



Africa risk








In Nigeria alone, 77 per cent of women—by extrapolation, more than 60 million people—are using lightening products on a "regular basis", the World Health Organization (WHO) said in 2011.

Bootleg creams































Recent black movements are trying to challenge that perception.







**'Who doesn't want to be fair?' Skin bleaching in quotes

A huge market has developed in Africa for products to lighten the skin.

Here is a selection of quotes from people interviewed by AFP's African bureaux to illustrate the scale of the phenomenon, the risks and its moral dimension:


"The reality in the African (model) industry is: the lighter your skin tone the more beautiful you are."

- Ajuma Nasenyana, Kenyan model

"The (employment) advertisements have made it even more alarming... all they put is that they want fair ladies. So who doesn't want to be fair?"

- Dr. Edmund Delle, dermatologist in Accra, Ghana

"70 percent of the girls in school were bleaching their skin. Most guys prefer it. When you're fresh, it looks like you're from a rich family."

- Celine Peter, university student in Lagos, Nigeria

"Some believe this is what men want, some just want their skin to glow."

- Elizabeth Kobiti, a cosmologist in Lagos, Nigeria, who mixes creams

"There's a high demand for skin lightening. Most of them want it, especially when it's looking good."

- Pela Okiemute, businessman in Lagos, Nigeria

"It's addictive as any drug."

- Dabota Lawson, cosmetics entrepreneur in Lagos, Nigeria


"I started to get stretchmarks and sunburns, my skin would react and I'd get dark marks. I was naive... when you're young, you just do things not caring about the effects."

- Tenny Coco, a Lagos makeup artist and vocal opponent of the practice

"We all know clearly as medical doctors if you have any bleaching agents in chemical products, there's a limited amount of weeks you are allowed to use it."

- Dr. Aranmolate Ayobami, a plastic surgeon in Lagos, Nigeria

"The products I sell are mostly composed of glutathione or sometimes hydroquinone. I can have healthy products if my customers ask for it but it is not always the case."

- Hassan, 25, who sells skin-bleaching creams in Mombasa, Kenya

"We don't have any data to show what kind of effect, chronic use of glutathione leads to in the body."

- Lester Davids, physiology professor at the University of Pretoria in South Africa

A moral issue?

"Because of our history with apartheid, most black people associate being white with superiority and privilege, and as a result when a black person is light-skinned, you are perceived to be better off, somewhat privileged and definitely beautiful."

- Mbali, a 28-year-old student in Johannesburg, South Africa

"It's not something that started today, it's an age-old addiction that dates back to the era of slavery. People have been programmed to believe lighter is better. A re-education is needed."

- Dr. Rasheedah Adesokan, skincare specialist in Lagos, Nigeria

"Skin bleaching is one manifestation of folks trying to get power and privilege aligned with whiteness. It's not specific in Africa, it's the way whiteness is positioned all over the world."

- Yaba Blay, political science assistant professor at North Carolina Central University

"Some people have come to believe that light skin people are superior in some sort and prettier. It doesn't matter to me. The darker the berry, the sweeter the juice."

- Nandi, a 23-year-old in Johannesburg, South Africa

**Skin bleaching: A factfile

Skin bleaching, or lightening, has become popular in many African countries. Here's a factfile:


Skin creams are by far the most popular form of bleaching.

They work by inhibiting production of melanin, the pigment produced by exposure from the sun.

Ingredients include hydroquinone, steroids, lead and mercury.

Such creams may be safe in specific doses for a limited amount of time. But they may be dangerous when used for extended periods or in high concentrations, say experts.

"What you find is that people use the products for much longer than they're supposed to and so they start getting those really harmful side effects," said Dr. Rasheedah Adesokan, a Nigerian skincare expert.

Some companies in Africa have started labelling their products as organic in order to reassure users, said Dr. Isima Sobande, a Lagos dermatologist.

"Most of the time it's a label to encase some unwholesome ingredients," she said.

Side effects

At first, people may be pleased as their skin starts to lighten from the cream, and "glow".

But to maintain the lighter shade people have to stick to the bleaching regime, says Adesokan.

Over time the skin thins and becomes "mottled" and "patchy".

"It's been irritated, so there is redness and you can see green veins," she says.

In the worst cases, people develop ochronosis—a build-up of acid that paradoxically makes the skin appear much darker.

Using creams with steroids can also lead to increased hair growth and stretch marks.

These creams are widely available. In some locations, over-the-counter anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, steroid creams are used as whiteners.

Glutathione, the new craze

The latest innovation is a compound called glutathione, taken in the form of injection or in pills, which are sold in markets or by retailers online.

Glutathione is a powerful antioxidant sometimes used in cancer therapy, said Lester Davids, physiology professor at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.

It has the side effect of making skin whiter, said Davids, adding that it is being marketed as a safer alternative to the creams.

In recent years, "injecting started to take over as a skin lightening submarket," said Davids.

The problem with glutathione, as with skin bleaching creams, is regulation. But unlike with creams, there is a lack of studies on the impact of long-term use of the new product.

"Using glutathione is not illegal—just be very cautious," said Davids, adding that the scale of the risk is not currently know.

Explore further

Ivory Coast bans skin whitening creams

© 2018 AFP

Citation: Skin bleaching in Africa: An 'addiction' with risks (2018, August 9) retrieved 28 May 2020 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-08-skin-africa-addiction.html

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