Investigations in the past few years by FDA and state health officials have turned up more than 35 products that contain unacceptable levels of mercury, linking the illegal products to those being manufactured abroad and sold illegally in the U.S. 

According to the association, Virginia, Maryland and New York are amongst the states that have seen cases of elevated mercury levels in people exposed to products containing mercury, while in Minnesota, 11 of 27 imported skin products taken from store shelves were said to contain mercury. 

Texas health officials also reported samples of face cream they tested to have contained mercury up to 131,000 times the allowable level.