Assessment of some heavy metal contents in skin whttening cosmetics using ICP-OES

Abstract EN

-The present study was carried out to quantitatively analyze the levels of some metals viz., arsenic (As), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co) and cupper (Cu) in ten skin whitening cosmetics.

The samples were collected from various retail shops, pharmacies and beauty aid stores in the local market of Aden, Yemen.

The samples were analyzed by using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES).

The ranged concentration for each heavy metal was analyzed i.e, As, Ni, Co, Cu were 1.020 to 2.677, 0.472 to 1.426, 0.200 to 0.300 and 2.779 to 3.634 μgg-1, respectively.

The concentrations of the metals in the samples investigated were compared with some international permissible limits of the metals in cosmetic products.

The concentrations of As in all the samples were below the safe limit determined by WHO and Health Canada.

The concentrations of Ni in 90% samples were out of the safe range by US.

The concentrations of Co in all samples were within WHO permissible limits, but the concentrations of Co and Cu in the all the samples were below the maximum permissible limits determined by US FDA.

The results indicate that the continuous use of these cosmetics could result in an increase in the metal levels in the human skin beyond permissible limits and hence may results in skin problems due to the biological accumulation of those metals and their toxicity in the human body.

Ensuring strict adherence to regulatory guidelines is recommended for skin whitening cosmetic products accompanied by routine analytical checks.