Assessments of toxic heavy metals contamination in cosmetic products

We quantified the contents of four toxic metals in cosmetic products that are commercially available in Jordan; 112 cosmetics, representing 10 product types, were tested in triplicate after acid digestion using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry and a mercury analyzer. Ni was most abundant, detected in 104/112 (92.8%) products (average, 2.32ppm; and median, 1.47ppm); 66/112 (59%) contained >1ppm and 13/112 (11.6%), >5ppm Ni. Cd was second-most abundant, detected in 86/112 (76.7%) products (mean, 1.71ppm; range from< detection limit [DL] to 18.07ppm); 16 products (14.3%) exceeded the 3ppm suggested limit. Pb was detected in 82/112 (73.2%) products (mean, 7.8ppm; range, < detection limit to 190.43 ppm); 20/112 (17.8%) contained more than the suggested 10ppm limit. Hg was least-frequently detected, present in 29/112 (25.9%) and at >3ppm in 15/112 (13.4%) products. The highest content of Hg was observed in skin lightening creams (mean concentration, 1,008ppm). Hg was detected in 20 (62.5%) of the 32 skin lightening creams tested, of which 11/32 (34.4%) contained > 3ppm Hg. Of the 112 cosmetics tested, 17 (15.1%) products contained Ni, Pb, Cd, and Hg; 19/112 (16.9%) contained Cd, Pb, and Hg -no product exceeded the maximum acceptable limits for all three elements, and 9/112 (8%) products exceed the maximum recommended levels for at least two elements (Hg, Cd, and Pb).