Heavy Metals Concentration in Facial Cosmetics

Heavy metals impurities in cosmetic products are common due to their natural abundance. However, they should be kept to a minimum wherever technically feasible. Most people, specially females, use cosmetic and their ingredients on a daily basis. Although human external contact with a substance rarely results in its penetration through the skin and significant systemic exposure, cosmetics produce local (skin, eye) exposure and are used in the oral cavity, on the face, lips, eyes and mucosa. Therefore, human systemic exposure to their ingredients can rarely be completely excluded. Because metals can induce unwanted side effects in humans, to establish their contents in body-care cosmetics is important for quality and health controls. In this work we have selected nine most expensive brands of facial cosmetics (Base jelly, Whitener, Sheen and Face powder) from the Saudi market. Twenty-eight elements were detected by using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) and a flow injection mercury system (FIMS). The mean, maximum and minimum concentrations of each element are reported.