ICP ? OES investigations of heavy metal contents in cosmetic products

A variety of chemicals especially heavy metals used in cosmetics as ingredients has different health effects. The level of heavy elements present viz., arsenic, cadmium, chromium, mercury, nickel, lead, cobalt, copper and zinc in twenty different cosmetic samples such as Deodorant (One ? D 1), Eyeshades (Three ? E 1 ? 3), Face cream (Three ? F 1 ? 3), Hair dye (Two ? H 1 ? 2), Kohl (One ? K 1), Lipstick (Four ? L 1 ? 4), Soap (One ? S 1), and Talcum Powder (Five ? P 1 ? 2; R 1 ? 3) were studied. All the samples were digested by suitable protocols and the composition of heavy metals analyzed, quantified on an ICP-OES. The results show that considerable amount of such elements were present in the test samples. As high as 0.523 ppm of arsenic is found in hair dye. Chromium varies from 0.011 ppm to 0.421 ppm, nickel between 0.015 ppm to 0.139 ppm.1.458 ppm of lead found as maximum in hair dye and minimum of 0.05 ppm found in eye shade. The samples viz., lipstick, soap, deodorant and powder contain lead at BDL. The amount of cobalt ranges between 0.01 ppm and 0.044 ppm. Copper is found between 0.014 ppm and 0.086 ppm. All the test samples contain considerable quantity of zinc at levels between 0.108 ppm and 126.6 ppm. The investigated results indicate that prolonged use of cosmetics pose threat to human health and the environment.