Risk Assessment of Heavy Metal Contents (Lead and Cadmium) in Lipsticks in Iran

Abstract

The aim of this survey was to assess the public health risk from certain brands of lipsticks products sold at local markets in Tehran. To investigate claims that some brands of cosmetic products sold at Iranian stores were non-complaint with the cosmetic products Group Standard 2006 under the Hazardous Substances, we focused only on the presence of total and Leachable Lead and Cadmium in randomly selected lipsticks. 120 samples of 19 brands of lipsticks made from different countries were randomly purchased for analysis but a single brand may contain several colors which have been analyzed separately. The samples were analyzed according to standardized international protocols by wet digestion method, by a Flame Emission Spectrophotometer. The highest concentration of lead and Cadmium was detected in Chinese lipsticks .The mean content of lead in 95.91% 0f Chinese lipsticks are much higher than 20 µg/g and all of the Iranian lipsticks are lower than 10 µg/g . There is significant difference in the levels of Lead in the entire four main color group analyzed. The pink color has highest concentration of lead, while violet color has the lowest Lead content and the brown and orange color have the highest and lowest concentration of cadmium respectively. The safety assessment of cosmetic products such as lipsticks is a complex issue that is not only affected by scientific questions, but also by the responsible regulatory organizers as well as consumers, health ministry and governmental organizers, there is an urgent to halt importing unsafe cosmetics.