Determination of heavy metals and their associated health risk assessment in the commonly available sunblocks

Abstract

ABSTRACT The present study was conducted to evaluate the concentrations of heavy metals in various brands of sunblocks with an emphasis on their health risk assessment. A Pilot study was conducted in Lahore, Pakistan, to know the sunblocks using behaviour and the most commonly used sunblock among youth. Samples were collected from different pharmacies and shopping malls in Lahore, Pakistan. Flame atomic absorption spectrometer and ICP-OES were used to detect heavy metals. The Highest detected values of Pb, Cd, Ni and Ti were 5.755 ± 0.0901 mg/kg, 2.49 ± 0.0595 mg/kg, 5.3 ± 0.3744 mg/kg and 4 ± 0.3298 mg/kg, respectively. Concentrations of heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Ni, and Ti) exceed the (EU) standards. The Value of the Margin of safety (MoS) was greater than 100 (acceptable) for all heavy metals except Cd. Hazard Index (HI) was less than 1, and the value of the lifetime cancer risk (LCR) was in acceptable range (10−6 to 10−4). There is need fornational standards and policy guidelines to create awareness and impose restrictions on the usage of toxic metals in consumer products to safeguard public health and the environment.