Application of Solid Phase Extraction on Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes of Some Heavy Metal Ions to Analysis of Skin Whitening Cosmetics Using ICP-AES

Ayoub Alqadami,Kamal Omer,Zeid Alothman,Mohammad Abdalla

doi:10.3390/ijerph10010361

Abstract

A novel and highly sensitive method for the determination of some heavy metals in skin whitening cosmetics creams using multiwalled carbon nanotubes MWCNTs as solid phase extraction sorbent for the preconcentration of these heavy metals prior to their determination by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry is described. Different practical parameters have been thoroughly investigated and the optimum experimental conditions were employed. The developed method was then applied for the determination of arsenic, bismuth, cadmium, mercury, lead and titanium in samples of skin whitening cosmetics. The detection limits under these conditions for As, Bi, Cd, Pb, Hg and Ti were 2.4, 4.08, 0.3, 2.1, 1.8, and 1.8 ng·mL−1, respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) were found to be less than 2.0%. For validation, a certified reference material of NIST SRM 1570a spinach leaves was analyzed and the determined values were in good agreement with the certified values. The recoveries for spiked samples were found to be in the range of 89.6–104.4%.

Highlights

IntroductionThe appearance of spots on the skin is a source of concern for many people, especially women
The appearance of spots on the skin is a source of concern for many people, especially women.These spots are caused by skin disorders or the existence of an excessive amount of melanin produced by melanocytes responsible for the pigmentation of the skin
Heavy metals like Pb, Cd, Hg, As and trace elements in 21 herbal cosmetic preparations sold in Indian market were analyzed by Sukender et al They found that the results indicated that among the toxic heavy metals, two samples for Hg content and six for Pb content exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) permissible limits fixed for herbal preparations and arsenic was found appreciably well below the permissible limit, but Cd was found above the permissible limit in the all samples [7]

Summary

Introduction

The appearance of spots on the skin is a source of concern for many people, especially women. These spots are caused by skin disorders or the existence of an excessive amount of melanin produced by melanocytes responsible for the pigmentation of the skin. The disorder can be reduced through the use of whitening products, the most serious cases require medical assistance. These products contain various chemicals such as kojic dipalmitate (KDP), which works as a whitening agent on the skin, based on different mechanisms [2]. Some of skin whitening products contain heavy metals such as mercury which can be absorbed through the skin and can cause deleterious effects in the body [3,4]

Methods

Results

Conclusion