Assessments of toxic heavy metals contamination in cosmetic products

ABSTRACTWe 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, 2.32 ppm; and median, 1.47 ppm); 66/112 (59%) contained >1 ppm and 13/112 (11.6%), >5 ppm Ni. Cd was second-most abundant, detected in 86/112 (76.7%) products (mean, 1.71 ppm; range from 3 ppm in 15/112 (13.4%) products. The highest content of Hg was observed in skin lightening creams (mean concentration, 1,008 ppm). Hg was d...