Levels of Cadmium, Lead, Nickel and Chromium in Some Cosmetics Marketed in Kano - Nigeria

The study is on determination of the levels of Cadmium, Lead, Nickel and Chromium in selected cosmetics marketed in Kano city. Ten different brands of facial cosmetics, labelled 1 – 10, in the form of Bronze, Eye shadow primer, Cream eyeliner, Concealer, Contour and Highlighter, Foundation, marketed in Kano were randomly purchased from Sabon gari and Rimi markets in the metropolis. Each sample label contained the manufacture’s country of origin. Samples were stored at room temperature. With the mean concentration of Cd as 90.333 μg/g and a range of 34 μg/g to 199 μg/g, the highest concentration of 199 μg/g was in sample 7 while the lowest concentration of 34 μg/g was in sample 4. The mean concentration of lead was 16.924μg/g, a range of 5.767 μg/g to 31.867 μg/g with the highest of 31.867 μg/g in sample 1 and the lowest of 5.767μg/g in sample 6. The nickel concentration varied from 25.667 to 189.733μg/g with a mean of 79.074μg/g. The highest concentration of 189.733μg/g was in sample 10 and the lowest of 25.667μg/g was in sample 2. The concentration of chromium ranged from 9.867 to 71.6μg/g. The highest concentration of 71.6μg/g was in sample 5 while the lowest concentration of 9.867μg/g was in sample 1. In comparison with the available international standards, as there are no national guidelines on metals in cosmetics in Nigeria. All the samples analyzed exceeds the maximum permissible limits with the exception of samples 6 and 10 which have only lead (Pb) concentration within the permissible limit of 10 μg/g.