Hidden Toxic Elements in Creams and Foundations

Mwaka S Haji; Miza A Kombo; Abdul AJ Mohamed*

Mwaka S Haji, Miza A Kombo and Abdul AJ Mohamed*

Volume6-Issue2
Dates: Received: 2025-02-01 | Accepted: 2025-02-26 | Published: 2025-02-28
Pages: 197-203

Abstract

Toxic metals’ contamination in cosmetic products is a serious threat. In the past, people used only cosmetics that consisted of natural ingredients. However, nowadays, the majority of the cosmetics available in the market today consist primarily of man-made materials (chemical substances). These synthesized products help a person to appear better, beautiful, and attractive, nevertheless, in both short and the long run they may cause significant health damage to the consumers due to the presence of toxic chemicals. Therefore, the present study was aimed at assessing the presence as well quantifying the levels of metals in selected cosmetics including body and whitening creams and foundations. The assessments were done to access the presence of toxic elements in seven (7) creams and three (3) foundations using Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescent (EDXRF) Spectrometer (The Rigaku NEX CG Model). The seven analyzed creams were: Chandni Whitening, Goldie advanced beauty, Elegance cocoa butter, Dhiindhiin body, Gold beauty, Pretty white lightening and Clinic clear whitening, while the three foundations were: Natural glow, Velvet touch (BB) and Wild rose (ChuiChui). Assessed elements included, seven metals which are Cu, Cd, Nb, Ta, Hg, Pb, and Bi, and three (3) metalloids, As, Sb, and Te. Their levels were quantified in the unit of ppm. Both types of cosmetics contained traces of copper. Overall order of occurance of the detected metals in analyzed cosmetics for creams was: Hg > Pb > Cd > Cu. While As, Nb, Sb, Te, Ta, and Bi were not detected in the analyzed creams. For the case of foundations, the trend was Nb > Te > Cu > Ta > As, whereby no detection was noticed for Cd, Sb, Hg, Pb, and Bi. The highest level of Hg (67900.0 ppm ) was found in Chandni whitening creams, whereas the highest level of Bi (54000.0 ppm) was found in Goldie cream. The level of Hg exceeded the maximum limit (1ppm ) set by WHO/FDA for skin and lightening creams. Futhermore, the data showed that Gold beauty cream contained 56.0 ppm of Pb followed by Cd at 23.0 ppm, while Cu was detected at 1 ppm in Clinic clear, Dhiindhiin and Pretty white. As and Sb were found to be below the detection limits. The level of Pb exceeded the maximum permisible limits (20 ppm) in skin and lightening creams. Therefore, continuous monitoring of cosmetic products specificcaly with reference to toxic elements adulteration should be adopted to ensure the good health and safety for the consumers.

FullText HTML FullText PDF DOI: 10.37871/jbres2072

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How to cite this article

Haji MS, Kombo MA, Mohamed AAJ. Hidden Toxic Elements in Creams and Foundations. J Biomed Res Environ Sci. 2025 Feb 28; 6(2): 197-203. doi: 10.37871/jbres2072, Article ID: JBRES2072, Available at: https://www.jelsciences.com/articles/jbres2072.pdf

Subject area(s)

Toxicology

Biology

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