Children as young as five exposed to skin-lightening products linked to cancer risk

Street vendors are selling skin lighteners all over Johannesburg.

CHILDREN as young as five are being exposed to skin-lightening products; a practice experts warn can cause long-term skin damage and has been linked to cases of a potentially fatal form of skin cancer.

Experts say the widespread use of skin-lightening products across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America has become a serious but often overlooked public health concern.

UKZN’s head of dermatology, Professor Ncoza Dlova, has been appointed chair of the newly established Strategic Working Group on Skin Bleaching, a global initiative aimed at addressing the health risks associated with harmful skin-lightening practices.

The warning comes as South African researchers prepare to publish what could be the country’s first documented cases of squamous cell carcinoma linked to prolonged use of skin-lightening products.