Determination of heavy metals in cream foundations and assessment of their dermal sensitivity, carcinogenicity, and non-carcinogenicity

Abstract

ABSTRACT Lightening creams are among the most frequently used cosmetic products applied to the face to obtain a lighter tone or as an anti-spot. Heavy metals are the most common ingredients in powder creams that are sometimes present in impurities or added to improve the quality and shine.These metals can threaten human health. The presentstudy aimed to determine the concentrations of heavy metals in cream foundations. For this purpose, the concentrations of five heavy metals, including lead, cadmium, nickel, chromium, and cobalt, were measured in four brands of cream foundations selected from the Iranian market (two domestic and two imported brands). Measurements were performed usinginductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry(ICP-OES) in 36 samples in three colours of dark, beige, and light. According to the obtained results, the lead (Pb) concentration was 1.45–398.5, cadmium (Cd) ND-4.77, nickel (Ni) 1.75–16.92, chromium (Cr) 3.52–30.9, and cobalt (Co) 0.45–3.77 µg/g. The total content of heavy metals was higher in the two Iranian brands than the two imported ones. In terms of colour, the results indicated that heavy metals’ distributiondid not follow a certain pattern in different colours. According to the guidelines, all the tested samples were within the safe range in terms of non-carcinogenicity, carcinogenicity, and dermal sensitivity. However, due to the high concentrations of trace elements in the samples, the health consequences of heavy metals for consumers should not be overlooked.