Journal of Hazardous Materials 433 (2022) 128806

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Journal of Hazardous Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jhazmat

Research Paper

A mechanistic approach for toxicity and risk assessment of heavy metals,

hydroquinone and microorganisms in cosmetic creams
Muhammad Irfan a, Amir Shafeeq b, Umair Siddiq b, Farzana Bashir a, Tausif Ahmad c,
Muhammad Athar d, Muhammad Tahir Butt a, Sami Ullah e, Ahmad Mukhtar f,
Mohamed Hussien e, Su Shiung Lam g, h, *
a
Centre for Environmental Protection Studies, Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), Laboratories Complex, Ferozepur Road, Lahore, Pakistan
b
Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
c
Department of Chemical Engineering, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology (KFUEIT), Abu Dhabi Road, Rahim Yar Khan 64200,
Pakistan
d
Department of Chemical Engineering, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Engineering and Technology, BCG Chowk, Multan 60000, Pakistan
e
Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Khalid University, Abha 61413, Saudi Arabia
f
Department of Chemical Engineering, NFC Institute of Engineering and Fertilizer Research, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
g
Pyrolysis Technology Research Group, Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti
Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
h
Henan Province Engineering Research Center for Biomass Value-added Products, School of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China

H I G H L I G H T S G R A P H I C A L A B S T R A C T

• Comparative profiling of metals is

examined for local and imported fair­
ness creams.
• Quantitative analysis Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn
and Hg is performed.
• Zn and Hg were found the highest con­
centration at 138.06 mg/kg and 141
mg/kg.
• A significant presence of hydroquinone
is detected in the range of 0.12–7.2%.
• 44% of samples surpass 100 cfu/g, MoS,
HQ, HI tolerance limits by European
Union.

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Editor: Dr. Rinklebe Jörg The demand and importance of fairness creams as a major cosmetic have increased significantly in recent years.
However, some of these cosmetics contain heavy metals, hydroquinone and microorganism that can cause
Keywords: various health problems. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine and examine the concentration of metals
Facial cosmetics (i.e. Cd, Pb, Cr, Ni, Zn, Hg), hydroquinone and microorganisms in nine different fairness creams produced by
Heavy metals
local and international brands. The health risk assessment of the tested substances for consumers was accessed
Hydroquinone
through systemic exposure dosage (SED), margin of safety (MoS), lifetime cancer risk (LCR), hazard quotient
Microbiology
Toxicology (HQ) and hazard index (HI). The concentration of Zn and Hg were found the highest and measured in the range
Human health of 17.82–138.06 mg.kg− 1 and 2.3–141 mg.kg− 1, respectively. The concentrations of other metals were deter­
Risk assessment mined as 0.06–0.67 mg.kg− 1 of Cd, 0.43–1.55 mg.kg− 1 of Cr, 0.14–1.43 mg.kg− 1 of Ni and 0.3–1.34 mg.kg− 1 of

* Corresponding author at: Henan Province Engineering Research Center for Biomass Value-added Products, School of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University,
Zhengzhou 450002, China.
E-mail address: lam@umt.edu.my (S.S. Lam).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128806
Received 6 February 2022; Received in revised form 13 March 2022; Accepted 25 March 2022
Available online 29 March 2022
0304-3894/© 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
M. Irfan et al.
Pb. HPLC results showed a significant presence of hydroquinone in the range of 0.12–7.2%. The total viable
counts of cosmetic samples showed the substantial presence of microorganisms, and 44% of the collected samples
surpassed the permissible limit of 100 cfu/g recommended by European Union. Many of the collected samples
exceeded the MoS, HQ and HI tolerance limits. However, the LCR value in all samples was significantly higher
than the acceptable limit. Therefore, it is advised to avoid overuse of these products in order to ensure human
safety and reduce the risks to skin health.
1. Introduction
Cosmetics is a generic term used for foundations, fairness creams,
lotions, sunscreens, lip glosses, eye shadows, emulsions, concealers,
soaps, blushes, lipsticks, deodorants, perfumes, and many other prod­
ucts. These products are used all over the world and their effectiveness
for beautification and personal care cannot be repudiated. Moreover, the
use of these beauty products has become increasingly popular with the
advancement of technology, fashion trends and the glamorous lifestyle
of people. The global cosmetics industry was worth $532.43 and $675
billion in 2017 and 2020 respectively and is expected to exceed $805.61
billion in 2023 (Hall and de Sousa, 2019; Li et al., 2019). It is also
attention-grabbing that since the inception of cosmetics industry, the
demand for personal care products has been growing constantly and
steadily and is developing even in an unstable economy. Therefore, the
global cosmetic products market is showing an average growth of about
5% per year (Kazakova et al., 2021). Cosmetics manufacturers actively
encourage consumers to buy their products through electronic and print
media. As a result, consumers especially women are spending a lot of
money on personal care products and supporting the development of the
industry. According to a study, a lady could spend about 4% of house­
hold spending on cosmetic products (Khan et al., 2021). In recent years,
the use of fairness cream has increased considerably as they reduce the
melanin content to lighten the skin and increase a person’s complexion.
It has been reported that more than 59% of women believe that lighter
skin tones look prettier and fairness creams are more effective in
achieving this goal (Khan et al., 2021; Majeed et al., 2021).
Thousands of ingredients are used to make cosmetic products.
However, the common ingredients in cosmetics are preservatives, anti­
oxidants, waxes, hydroquinone, moisturizers, colors and heavy metals
(Munir et al., 2020; Agorku et al., 2016). Some of these ingredients can
be harmful and cause serious health problems if added in excess of the
safe limits. In particular, flavors and preservatives are considered al­
lergens despite being an essential part of cosmetics (Sharmeen et al.,
2021). Metal composites are also deliberately used in cosmetics because
of their ability to cleanse and whiten the skin. For example, blends
containing lead carbonate and mercury chloride are used to whiten and
cleanse the skin (Ababneh and Al-Momani, 2018). However, the use of
metal components is based on country-specific regulations. Several
years before, it was believed that cosmetics only had superficial effects.
However, it has been feared in recent years that some of the ingredients
present in cosmetics have the ability to penetrate deep into the skin and
further into organs. Even though the external stratum of the skin does
not permit much penetration, small amount of heavy metals in cosmetics
can reach the circulatory system. Some metals tend to accumulate in the
protecting layer of skin and cause allergic reactions, while others can
spread through sweat, tears and sebum and penetrate through append­
ages of the skin or through the intercellular and intracellular pathways
and enter the bloodstream of the human body (Arshad et al., 2020).
Consequently, the daily use of many cosmetic products can lead to an
increase in the exposure of the human body to heavy metals. There are
many heavy metals that are considered lethal such as Pb, As, Hg, and Cd
(Buksh et al., 2020). Considering the potentially harmful effects of heavy
metals, most of them are strictly prohibited as essential components of
cosmetics, but some of the metals are still used or present in cosmetic
products (Faruruwa and Bartholomew, 2014).
Hydroquinone, a benzene derivative, is also added for its whitening
2
Journal of Hazardous Materials 433 (2022) 128806
ability in skin creams. It is also called quinol due to the presence of
hydroxyl groups formed from the reduction of benzoquinone. This skin
tone altering agent is notorious for its hepatotoxic and carcinogenic
nature (Owolabi et al., 2020). Hydroquinone is added in fairness creams
to suppress melanin formation and treat melisma. However, its use in
fairness creams was rather controversial a few years ago due to its
ambiguous efficacy as a safe ingredient. In recent years, the toxic effects
of hydroquinone have been reviewed and it has been found that these
compounds are extremely toxic to both the environment and humans,
even at very low concentrations (Tashkhourian et al., 2016). Continued
use of these products has been reported to lead to adverse effects,
including irritation, dermatitis, melanin destruction and ochronosis
(Chisvert et al., 2010; Moldovan et al., 2017).
One of another possible risks associated with the use of cosmetics is
the presence of microorganisms. The presence of microorganisms could
cause organoleptic alterations such as offensive and unpleasant odors
and changes in viscosity and color of the product and can also cause
serious damage to the health of consumers due to the production of
endotoxins or harmful metabolites. Although cosmetic creams are not
projected to be sterile, they should be free of infectious microbial
pathogens. The number of microorganisms per gram should be as low as
possible. The presence of microorganisms in facial creams, regardless of
whether they are introduced during manufacturing process or passed on
to the product by the end user, can be detrimental to health. When the
number of microorganisms exceeds the limit set by health organizations,
their use can cause serious infections and health problems, such as those
associated with the skin comprising acne, scabies, dyschromia, and
eczema. The presence of microorganisms in cosmetic products such as
Clostridium tetani has been reported to have resulted in the death of four
babies in New Zealand (Behravan and Malaekeh P, 2005).
Heavy Metals and hydroquinone are often present in whitening
creams and their increased exposure to human body can lead to health
problems, including neurotoxicity, carcinogenic health effects, oxidative
stress, skin allergies, and skin ulcer (Li et al., 2021; Ho et al., 2017;
Ghaderpoori et al., 2020). In addition, many studies measured only the
metal content of cosmetic products (Ababneh and Al-Momani, 2018;
Balarastaghi et al., 2018) while very little attention has been paid to the
dosage of systemic exposure and the risk assessment of the tested ele­
ments. Moreover, there is so far no study that fully compares not only
the metals but also the hydroquinone and microorganisms with any
national or international cosmetic standard and allows the end user to
understand how much of these ingredients are added to these facial
products compared to their acceptable limit. There is also a need to focus
on studies that fully compare and evaluate the risk and carcinogenic
effects of the facial products, and also provide insight into the harmful
effects caused by the uncontrolled addition of undesirable ingredients.
In this perspective, the present study was performed with emphasis
on quantifying the health risks associated with heavy metals, hydro­
quinone and microorganisms in facial cosmetic products. The presence
of microorganisms in collected samples was determined by measuring
the total bacterial counts at the time of opening and after one month to
evaluate the product stability as a function of time. For a more thorough
assessment, the results of this study were compared with cosmetic
standards of different countries such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Europe
and Canada. The risk assessment of the various metals present in the
selected cosmetic samples was also performed by measuring the sys­
temic exposure dosage (SED), margin of safety (MoS), hazard quotient
M. Irfan et al.
(HQ) and hazard index (HI). The carcinogenic effects of lethal metals
have also been assessed by estimating the lifetime cancer risk (LCR).
Thus, this study aims to capture the attention of end users so that they
are not prone to use low-quality and spurious cosmetics. It also draws
the public’s attention to not buying national or international brands
unless the ingredients have been properly printed on the product label.
In fact, this study not only provides end users with information about the
health risks associated with the long-term use of beauty products, but
also helps the consumer courts and government agencies to establish
that manufacturers of these beauty products are strictly enforced to
display proper labels, with clear quantities of chemicals, updated con­
tact information, and clarification of the rules for advertising only
authorized cosmetic products.
2. Materials and methods
The comprehensive methodological configuration of the study is
shown in Fig. 1, which shows the identification of the risk of heavy
metals, hydroquinone, microorganisms and associated health effects
when using various skin whitening creams. At the first stage, the con­
centration of metals, hydroquinone and microorganisms was measured
in the selected samples, followed by the identification of risk assessment
and carcinogenic effects by assessing parameters comprising the margin
of safety, systemic exposure dosage, hazardous quotient, hazard index,
and lifetime cancer risk. A detailed description of each parameter is
provided in the sections below.
2.1. Collection, washing and preparation of samples for analysis
Samples of 9 different fair creams, including both local and inter­
national brands, were purchased from the local market located in Lahore
city, Pakistan. These brands were selected due to their high sale and
demand among the population living in the city of Lahore (Siddiq,
2019). The collected samples were coded from 1 to 9. The ingredients of
the samples are listed in Table S1. The analysis was performed in trip­
licates to obtain statistically reliable and reproducible data.
Fig. 1. Methodological lay-out of the study for identification of the risk of heavy metals, hydroquinone, and microorganisms in facial cosmetics using various
analytical approaches.
3
Journal of Hazardous Materials 433 (2022) 128806
Washing is considered an important step to ensure precise analysis
for determination of heavy metals. Initially, the glassware was thor­
oughly washed with detergent followed by rinsing with tap water. They
were then soaked in 5% nitric acid for 24 h. These were then washed
with distilled water (DW). The glassware were then dried at 80 ◦ C for
48 h and placed in storage for later use.
Wet digestion technique was applied to digest all the cosmetic
samples as a step required for heavy metals analysis. About 1.0 g of each
cosmetic sample was inserted into a 50 mL Erlenmeyer flask and 15 mL
of distilled water was added into it. A combination of concentrated nitric
and hydrochloric acid i.e. HNO3 and HCL was prepared taking a ratio of
1–3.5 mL and poured into flasks together with the samples and DW. It
was kept at room temperature (25 ◦ C) for a night and then gradually
heated up to 90 ◦ C for 1–2 h for complete digestion until the solution
become completely clear. After digestion, the samples were brought to a
steady state for ambient conditions and filtered through Whatman filter
paper No. 41. DW was added to this mixture to achieve a final solution
volume of 50 mL. Blank samples were also prepared using similar pro­
tocol. All of these digested solutions were placed in a refrigerator until
required for analysis.
2.2. Determination of heavy metals contents
Five metals including Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, and Zn were characterized for
their quantification. The analysis was conducted using Atomic absorp­
tion spectrophotometer (Model: Perkin Elmer–AAanalyst 400). The
operating conditions of the instrument during the analysis were main­
tained as; Air-Acetylene flame with variable flow rate, first 10 L/min
and then 2.5 L/min. Specific metal standard solutions at different con­
centrations were passed through the instrument prior to analysis to
generate a calibration curve for each target metal.
The concentration of Hg in whitening cream samples was estimated
in accordance with a method as described in the Association of Official
Analytical Chemists (AOAC), 2012 with minor modification. In sum­
mary, 1 g of sample was taken into a vessel along with addition of 20 mL
of deionized water. Thereafter, 2 mL of concentrated HNO3 and 1 mL of
M. Irfan et al.
concentrated HCL were added. Each sample was placed on a digital hot
plate at 95 ◦ C till completely digestion. The sample was cooled by
placing them in ice salt mixture water for 30 min and filtered. The same
methodology was adopted thrice for complete extraction and finally
100 mL volume was prepared. The analysis was performed by using
Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrophotometer ICP-OES (Optima DV
5300).
2.3. Determination of Hydroquinone, pH and total plate count (TPC)
For hydroquinone analysis, 2 g of each sample was taken with the
addition of 25 mL of mobile phase (Water: Methanol, 40:60). A ther­
mostatic water bath (Julabo EM) was used to homogenize the mixture
for 45 min at 60 ◦ C followed by cooling to isolate the fats and waxes in
the sample. Thereafter, the mixture was filtered and transferred into
Teflon vials. Approximately 20 μL of each sample was injected into
HPLC (Perkin Elmer, Series 200) with C18 column operating at 30 ◦ C
with UV/Vis. Detector. Chromatograms were obtained from which
qualitative and quantitative analyzes were carried out to confirm the
presence of hydroquinone. The peak area was observed and compared to
the peak area of the hydroquinone standard solution. The retention time
of the hydroquinone standard solution compared to the sample solution
was used to determine the presence of hydroquinone.
The pH of the samples was measured using pH meter, OHAUS ST20.
Various standard buffer solutions with pH 4, 7 and 10 were used in order
to calibrate the pH meter prior to measurement. Distilled water was used
to wash and clean the pH meter rod after every reading and analysis.
The TPC of cream samples was determined by pour plate method. For
this purpose, 10 g of sample was suspended in 90 mL of sterile water and
thoroughly mixed. This suspension was diluted 9-fold at aseptic condi­
tions. Hereafter, the pour plate technique was performed by taking a
1 mL aliquot and poured into Petri plates. Nutrient agar was added,
mixed completely and allowed to stand at room temperature to solidify.
Solidified agar Petri plates were incubated at 37 ◦ C for the next 72 h.
Henceforth, the number of colonies was counted and the results were
expressed as a colony-forming unit (cfu/g).
2.4. Health risk assessment of facial cosmetic
2.4.1. Margin of safety (MoS)
The risks to human health associated with the occurrence of heavy
metals present in cosmetics can be assessed using an uncertainty factor
called the Margin of Safety (MoS). It can be estimated by taking into
account of “no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL)” of an investiga­
tional cosmetic material to its calculated systemic exposure dosage
(SED) (SCCS, 2018).
NOAEL
MoS = (1)
SED
The SED foresees the concentration of chemicals that move in the
human body in a variety of ways. It is assessed considering the con­
centration of the metal available in the test substances, the product
quantity applied to the skin in a day, using rate or application frequency,
the surface area of the applied skin and the value of the human body
weight. The value of SED can be determined using the following
formula,
⎛ ⎞
mg
⎜ kg ⎟ Cs × AA × SSA × F × RF × BF
SED ⎝ ⎠= × 10− 3
(2)
d BW
In this equation, Cs expresses the concentration of heavy metal in the
cosmetic sample (mg/kg). AA is the concentration of the product to be
applied in a day (g/cm2), SSA is the body surface area (cm2) and F shows
the frequency for product application per day. The values of these pa­
rameters are standard and established by the Scientific Committee on
4
Journal of Hazardous Materials 433 (2022) 128806
Consumer Safety (SCCS) and assumed to be 1.54 g/day, 1425 (cm2) and
2.14 per day, respectively (SCCS, 2018). RF indicates the retention
factor which is taken as 1.0 for leave-on cosmetic products. BF is the bio
accessibility factor; 10− 3 (mg/kg) is used as unit conversion factor while
BW highlights the average weight of human body and is projected to be
60 kg in this study.
The exposure level at which no side effects are witnessed is called the
NOAEL and can be derived from dermal reference doses (RFD). The
latter represents "an estimate of the daily exposure of the human pop­
ulation that is likely to have no discernible lifetime risk of harmful ef­
fects". NOAEL can be calculated using the following formula
(Ghaderpoori et al., 2020),
NOAEL = RfD × UF × MF (3)
− 1 − 1
RfDs represents the dermal reference doses (in mg kg day ) and
taken as Cd (1 ×10− 3), Cr (3 ×10− 3), Ni (2 ×10− 2), Pb (4 ×10− 3), Zn
(3.0 ×10− 1), Hg (3 ×10− 4) (Ho et al., 2017; Iwegbue et al., 2016).
Whereas, UF indicates the uncertainty factor (reflecting overall confi­
dence in different data sets) and MF is the modifying factor (based on the
scientific judgment), respectively. The defaults values established for UF
and MF are 100 and 1, respectively.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that the
minimum MoS value should be 100 to determine if a product can be
considered marketable and safe. The SCCS distinguishes that various
standard MoS calculations suggest an oral bioavailability of an element
is 100% when data on oral absorption are not accessible. Nevertheless, it
can be appreciated that no more than 50% of the orally administered
dose is systemically functional (SCCS, 2018).
2.4.2. Hazardous quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI)
The hazard quotient (HQ) indicates the ratio of SED of a test sub­
stance to RfD of each metal. The value of HQ can be determined through
following formula,
HQ = SED/RfD (4)
The Hazard Index (HI) is the sum of the HQ of each metal being
studied. It is used to assess the cumulative risk to human health posed by
metallic contaminants and can be determined using the following
equation (Arshad et al., 2020).
∑
HI = HQ
= HQCd + HQCr + HQNi + HQPb + HQZn + HQHg (5)
2.4.3. Lifetime cancer risk (LCR)
The LCR value was determined to identify the risk of lifelong cancer
due to the presence of carcinogenic metals in cosmetic creams and was
measured using the following formula,
LCR = SED × SF (6)
Where, SF is the coefficient of the slope of carcinogenicity and the
transition to cancer risk for a unit dose of a cancer-causing substance
that is consumed during a typical lifespan. Slope coefficient values for
Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb are 6.7, 0.5, 0.91 and 0.0085 (mg/kg/day)− 1,
respectively, and are reported in the literature (Arshad et al., 2020). The
LVR value for Hg and Zn was not calculated due to the lack of their slope
coefficient in the literature (Ge et al., 2019).
2.4.4. Margin of safety (MoS) for hydroquinone
A cosmetic sample risk assessment for hydroquinone was also per­
formed in accordance with the SCCS guidelines notes. As previously
described in Section 2.4.1, the calculation of MoS requires two param­
eters, including NOAEL and SED. There are many studies which high­
lighted the toxicological effects of hydroquinone, with the health-
related NOAEL values ranging from 25 to 100 mg/kg/day. The risk
assessment was carried out using extreme values i.e. 25 and 100 mg/kg/
M. Irfan et al.
day.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Comparative profile of metals concentrations in facial creams
It is commonly accepted that heavy metals should not be used in
cosmetic and beauty products, as they are applied directly to the human
body and cause serious health problems for end users. However, trace
amounts of these metals may still be present in cosmetics due to their
persistent nature and easy availability in the natural environment. In
general, there can be three main ways by which metals can enter cos­
metics; (i) the deliberate addition of metallic compounds such as UV
filters and pigments, (ii) the use of raw materials and water containing
metallic elements as impurities, and (iii) the use of apparatus with metal
coatings. In addition, if subsidiaries of crude oil such as paraffin and
mineral oils containing metallic compounds are used as solvents during
the production phase of cosmetics, these can also act as additional
source of metal contamination (Borowska and Brzóska, 2015). There­
fore, all samples were carefully analyzed for the presence of metallic
impurities. The concentration of each metal in selected cosmetic sam­
ples is shown in Fig. 2.
3.1.1. Cadmium profile
Cd was found in 56% of collected samples; Cd was present in 5 out of
the 9 samples as shown in Fig. 2a. The highest concentration of Cd was
observed at 0.67 mg.kg− 1, while the lowest concentration was measured
as 0.06 mg.kg− 1. It was observed that the Cd detected in the collected
Fig. 2. Comparative profile of heavy metals and their concentrations in facial cosmetics.
5
Journal of Hazardous Materials 433 (2022) 128806
cosmetic samples was found within the permissible limit (3 mg.kg− 1) by
the Canadian regulations for cosmetics. However, it must be noted that
Cd and its compounds have been classified as carcinogenic. Cd can
agglomerate into liver and kidneys after seeping through the skin and
may result in various diseases including kidney disorder, muscle short­
coming, bringing down bone mineral density, insensibility and lung
damage (Balarastaghi et al., 2018). According to US cancer statistics, Cd
exposure is a key risk factor for human carcinogenesis and is the 2nd
leading cause of cancer death (Pal et al., 2017). Moreover, it could be
more damaging when it is absorbed or in contact with the skin in higher
concentration or for a longer time. Therefore, European Union (EU) has
strictly proscribed any presence of these types of metals and their
compounds in facial cosmetics. The results of the collected cosmetics
showed that, although the Cd concentration was within the acceptable
limit of Canadian cosmetics regulations, it was in breach of the EU
standard. Therefore, the presence of this heavy metal in facial creams
should be excluded to avoid carcinogenic risks and other health
problems.
3.1.2. Chromium profile
The presence of Cr in eight cosmetic samples is shown in Fig. 2b. The
overall concentration of Cr was observed in the range of 0.45–1.55 mg.
kg− 1. Tanzeela et al. also examined the presence of Cr in various skin
whitening creams, and the results showed that the concentration of Cr
ranged from 1.0453 to 2.7455 ppm, which is almost similar as the
current study (Ashraf et al., 2020). Cr and its compounds are often added
to personal care products as pigments to impart color (Achmad and
Ibrahim, 2017). Until now, all cosmetic standards, including those
M. Irfan et al.
available in Canadian, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), have not prescribed any limit on the use of Cr in
cosmetic products. However, the presence of this metal could lead to
skin redness, skin ulcers, swelling of the skin, lung cancer and even
death (Ayenimo et al., 2010; Gondal et al., 2010). It may also be noted
that Cr in hexavalent form is significantly more toxic when compared
with Cr+3 and could cause higher carcinogenic risks particularly at
elevated concentration. Therefore, the International Agency for the
Research on Cancer has included Cr+6 as group 1 human carcinogenic
(AL-Azzawi and AL-Hilifi, 2017). Face is considered as the most sensitive
part of the human skin, especially for women who use numerous facial
products for a radiant and beautiful face. Furthermore, facial skin has a
relatively thinner barrier with a high density of nerve endings. There­
fore, any presence of this heavy metal should be avoided, especially in
facial creams. However, this study shows the presence of this heavy
metal in almost all collected samples, which could lead to undesirable
health effect.
3.1.3. Nickel profile
Fig. 2c shows the presence of Ni in 66% samples, i.e. 6 of the 9
collected samples showed the presence of Ni. The presence of Ni was
measured in the range of 0.14–1.43 mg.kg− 1. Various regulatory bodies
for cosmetic products have not established any set limits for Ni content
in cosmetic products. This may be due to the lower toxicological prop­
erties and health hazards associated with Ni compared to Hg, Pb and Cd.
However, Ni-allergy was one of the most prevalent allergy around the
world (Ahlström et al., 2019). Exposure of Ni to human skin can cause
adverse health effects such as skin allergy, skin rash, cardiovascular
diseases, kidney and respiratory tract cancer (Duda-Chodak and
Blaszczyk, 2008). Nickel is transported in the body by binding metal ions
to specific serum proteins and deposited in the kidneys, lungs, brain, and
pancreas (Rizvi et al., 2020). As a result, 5 and 1 ppm limits have been
proposed for some household products and detergents respectively, to
prevent the development of allergic eczema on the hands caused by Ni.
In this study, one sample showed the Ni concentration up to 1.43 mg.
kg− 1, which is in excess of 1 ppm. Consequently, the presence of this
metal can cause skin and respiratory problems, which can be hazardous
to the end user. Moreover, since the EU prohibits any presence of heavy
metals in cosmetics, this metal should be excluded in facial creams to
avoid health complications.
3.1.4. Lead profile
Lead poses significant health risks such as genotoxicity, organ dis­
ease, and carcinogenicity as seen in many parts of the world, especially
in developing countries (Ghaderpoori et al., 2020). Even a small amount
of it can have serious health consequences. Of the nine samples, Pb
concentration was observed in three samples, as shown in Fig. 2d. The
concentration of Pb was observed in the range of 0.30–1.34 mg.kg− 1. Pb
can be harmful to the nervous system of the fetus and baby. Therefore,
people with sensitive skin, especially children, are specifically advised to
take special precautions when applying such products containing Pb to
faces (Bocca et al., 2014). Low-level exposure to Pb can reduce learning
and hearing capabilities. Other health impacts include kidneys mal­
functioning, pain in the ankles and wrists, fluctuations in blood pressure,
anemia, nervous system abnormalities, even in some cases of brain
damage. In addition, products with higher Pb concentrations can lead to
miscarriage and sperm-producing organs in pregnant women and men,
respectively (Nourmoradi et al., 2013). In this study, the concentration
of Pb in all collected samples was found within the allowable limits of
Canadian and Pakistan cosmetic standards. In addition, the FDA has also
allowed the presence of Pb and its derivatives in cosmetic products up to
10 ppm. Therefore, it was observed that all collected samples complied
with the prescribed limits of FDA, Canadian and Pakistani cosmetic
standards.
6
Journal of Hazardous Materials 433 (2022) 128806
3.1.5. Zinc profile
Zn is an essential element for humans as it plays a vital role in the
body’s metabolism. On the contrary, the lack of Zn in the body can lead
to multiple dysfunctions. Out of the 9 collected samples, the concen­
tration of Zn was observed in the seven samples as shown in the Fig. 2e.
The concentration of Zn was measured in the range of 17.82–138.06 mg.
kg− 1. It should be noted that Zn is required for normal growth and
metabolism from gametogenesis to old age and is extremely beneficial to
human health. However, skin contact with zinc powders or concentrated
solutions can cause corrosive effects including scarring, ulceration and
blistering of the skin (Nouioui et al., 2016). Therefore, the presence of
Zn salts in cosmetic was allowed up to 1% (Świerczek et al., 2019). Zn
and its salts are generally used in variety of different cosmetic products
including bath soaps, make up and beauty products, baby lotions and
foot powders. The presence of Zn and its oxides is also found in skin
anti-inflammatory drugs such as ointments for diaper rash and sunblock
products due to their non-carcinogenic potential and low tendency to
penetrate the skin. Therefore, FDA has also allowed the use of ZnO in
cosmetic, sunblock and skin protection products at concentrations of up
to 25%. A similar tolerance of 25% for the use of Zn in various cosmetic
products was also defined by the Korean cosmetic standard (Kim et al.,
2017). The Zn concentration in all samples in this study was within
acceptable limits. This shows that by considering only the Zn metal,
these facial creams can be applied without causing much adverse effects.
3.1.6. Mercury profile
Mercury is available commercially as a liquid metal. The presence of
Hg was found in six numbers of samples as shown in Fig. 2f. Although
mercury was detected for up to 3.4 mg.kg− 1 in several samples, there
were few samples that showed relatively high Hg concentrations and
some even exceeded 100 mg.kg− 1. The massive presence of Hg in these
samples is shocking as it could cause serious health risks. Hg is highly
volatile due to its high vapor pressure in ambient conditions and can be
inhaled into the human body. Besides the possible poisoning by inges­
tion, these types of cosmetic products can affect the kidneys and the
nervous system (Cheuk and Chan, 2006). This higher concentration of
Hg could also cause skin irritation, allergies and damaging effects on the
nervous system. Chronic exposure to Hg can cause interstitial kidney
disease, peripheral neuropathy, encephalopathy i.e. brain disease,
malfunctioning or damage to brain (Soo et al., 2003). It may also be
noted that The FDA have approved the use of mercury as a preservative
in cosmetics. However, it should not be used in the eye area and its
concentration in the face product must be less than 65 ppm. In contrast,
the FDA does not allow more than 1 ppm to be present in cosmetic
products under good manufacturing practice.
The results for concentration of Hg in this study are also consistent
with a recent study from Pakistan, which found that the concentration of
mercury in various whitening creams ranges from 3.6 to 240 ppm
(Majeed et al., 2021). In fact, in South Asia, mercury is found in high
concentrations in various beauty products and skin-whitening creams,
which are in fact top-selling brands (Khan et al., 2021). In this region,
most women found it effective to use skin whitening creams for a lighter
complexion, and also agreed that the use of these products is closely
related to achieving a lighter complexion, which is considered more
beautiful. In many countries of the subcontinent, the liking for a milky
facial skin began with the successive incursions by the Aryans, Mughals
and British. They were much fairer than the local community. Since all
three invaders had white skin and were influential, this supports the
notion of white as a sign of strength, better status, and wealth (Majeed
et al., 2021). The reason for adding Hg compounds to beauty creams is
also to achieve a light complexion of skin. Hg attaches to the surface of
the enzymes and inhibits their activity in the synthesis of the pigment
that colors the skin, i.e. melanin, and therefore gives the skin a lighter
tone. Therefore, the use of skin whitening creams is higher in this region.
However, the presence of such a high concentration of Hg in these skin
whitening creams found in this study is alarming and can cause serious
M. Irfan et al. Journal of Hazardous Materials 433 (2022) 128806

health issues as previously described.
3.2. Comparison of metals concentrations with national and international
cosmetic standards
The report about the toxicity of metal is well documented since
ancient time i.e. 370 BCE when abdominal colic was diagnosed due to
metal toxicity during the extraction of metal. Historically, many metals
and their compounds have been used as essential cosmetic ingredients
such as mercury sulfide in tattoo pigments and lead acetate in hair dyes.
In a wide range of cosmetic products, most are applied to the face, neck
and underarm part of the human body. Therefore, the probability of
destruction of these body parts is relatively high. For example, it has
been reported that women have an increased risk of breast cancer due to
overuse of underarm cosmetics (Linhart et al., 2017).
Therefore, in recent years, with the massive use of cosmetic products,
many countries have developed and issued their own cosmetic standards
to control the concentration of heavy metals, especially the deliberate
mixing of these elements in cosmetic products. The European Commu­
nity has developed strict and detailed guidelines for cosmetic products,
which clarify information on the safety of cosmetic products, safety
assessment, list of prohibited substances in cosmetics, list of substances
with restricted use, suitable dyes, preservatives and UV filters in cos­
metics. In addition, the presence of heavy metals, including Cd, Cr, Hg,

Fig. 3. Comparison of cosmetic samples with different cosmetic standards in Europe, Canada and Pakistan; the EU has set zero tolerance limits for all heavy metals,
whereas the Canadian cosmetic standard recommends limits for Cd, Pb, and Hg, and the Pakistani cosmetic standard recommends only Hg and Pb.

7
M. Irfan et al.
Pb and Ni, is strictly prohibited in cosmetics. It was also observed that
there are minor differences in the permissible limits for metals recom­
mended by various standards such as Pakistan, European, Canadian and
Saudi Arabian standards. It should be noted that, based on the Canadian
regulations for cosmetics, the limit value for heavy metals in cosmetics is
10 mg.kg− 1 for Pb, 3 mg.kg− 1 for Cd and 1 mg.kg− 1 for Hg. However, an
acceptable limit for the remaining metals was not defined in this study,
which may be due to the lower risk associated with them (Söğüt et al.,
2016; Massadeh et al., 2017). Likewise, Pakistan Standards for skin
creams have recommend a maximum limit for heavy metals as Pb;
20 mg.kg− 1 and Hg; 1 mg.kg− 1. However, the limits for other heavy
metals have not been suggested. The results of the current study showed
that most of the samples violated Pakistani and Canadian cosmetic
standards as shown in Fig. 3. The main problem with these samples was
the higher Hg concentration. This is also in accordance with data
released by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI, Islam­
abad, Pakistan) and the Ministry of Climate Change in 2018, where a
quality assessment of 59 local and international brands disclosed that
only three manufacturers used standard amounts of mercury, while
others have used excessive amounts in their products and found up to
292 ppm against the allowable limit of 1 ppm (Khan et al., 2021). Un­
fortunately, in Pakistan, whitening creams and other cosmetic products
are readily available in local stores, not just pharmacies or regular
medical stores. Most of the production units are unauthorized and
operated on a large scale illegally. Taking into account of the European
cosmetic standards, all of the cosmetic samples also professed to violate
this standard, due to the presence of heavy metals in every sample as
shown in Fig. 3.
Even though the skin forms a shielding barrier, some components
and impurities can still penetrate and have a detrimental local or sys­
temic effect. In fact, when metal present in these face creams and beauty
products are absorbed by the human body, it forms complexes with the
amine (–NH2), carboxylic acid (–COOH) and thiol (–SH) proteins. This
can lead to malfunctioning or cell death, which subsequently becomes
the cause of many diseases. However, metals can be intoxicated using
any chelating agent which forms a complex with metal ions for easy
exclusion from the body (Ullah et al., 2017). When heavy metals enter
the body, they are oxidized to various oxidative states that can readily
bind to biological molecules such as proteins and enzymes, creating
stable and strong bonds. These metals can also inhibit protein folding.
This was first observed when heavy metals such as Cd, Pb and Hg were
shown to effectively interfere with the refolding of a chemically dena­
tured protein (Hall and de Sousa, 2019). Thio groups are very common
to which heavy metals are attached and replace their hydrogen, thereby
inhibiting protein function or enzyme activity. For example, Cd binds to
a cystein-rich protein such as metallothionein which causes hepatotox­
icity in the liver. After that, it circulates in the kidneys and accumulates
in its tissue causing nephrotoxicity. Similarly, the reaction of Cr and
biological reducing agents such as thiols and ascorbate lead to the for­
mation of reactive oxygen species such as superoxide ion, hydrogen
peroxide, and -OH radical (Li et al., 2019). This eventually leads to
oxidative stress in the cell, which damages DNA and proteins. The effect
of heavy metals on the cell and the balance between the production of
reactive oxygen species and the protection provided by subsequent an­
tioxidants that protect the cell from free radicals such as H2O2 is shown
by Fig. S1. The small amount of heavy metals present in cosmetics after
application can be absorbed through the epidermis, resulting in the
accumulation of these impurities inside the skin. This can cause a variety
of health problems depending on the nature of the impurities. However,
there is still no absolute information regarding the long-term use of face
creams and other cosmetics and their health risks.
3.3. Health risk assessment of cosmetic
3.3.1. Non-carcinogenic risk
One of the most important steps in the risk assessment of whitening
8
Journal of Hazardous Materials 433 (2022) 128806
creams that is of concern for human health is to estimate the Margin of
Safety (MoS) which can be calculated by Eq. (1) as earlier described in
section 2.9.1. The systemic exposure of a cosmetic product makes it
possible to predict the amount of chemical substances that enter the
human body through various routes of exposure. The calculated SED
values at 50% and 100% bio-accessibility for selected heavy metals in
cosmetic samples are shown in Table S2. From these values, MoS was
calculated to evaluate the risk to human health due to exposure of
metallic impurities present in cosmetic samples. The calculated MoS
levels for heavy metals present in cosmetic samples at 50% and 100%
bioavailability are shown in Table 1. According to the WHO, the product
is safe to use if the MoS content of the cosmetic product is 100 or more
(Ghaderpoori et al., 2020). For most of the heavy metals in the samples
taken, MoS values were found to be in excess of 100, indicating that the
samples assessed are safe to use. However, the MoS values for Hg in
many of the collected samples were found significantly less than 100 and
this raises serious concerns about their safe use. The key problem with
the collected cosmetic samples is the high Hg concentration, which is
often used to suppress the melanin pigment, competing with copper in
tyrosinase, resulting in a lighter skin tone.
The value of HQ and HI was calculated to identify the risk analysis
for the exposure level of a pollutant that is expected to cause side effects
when used. If value of HQ for a test substance is less than 1, it is assumed
safe and risk-free. On the contrary, if it provides a value greater than 1, it
is considered harmful to health and unsafe for humans (Xiao et al.,
2019). However, several reports have favored HI, which provides an
appropriate approach for calculating the aggregate risk assessment of
chemicals and is measured as the sum of the HQ. The HQ and HI values
of the selected cosmetic samples were measured at 50% and 100%
bio-accessibility levels and are shown in Fig. 4(a, b).
At 50% bio accessibility, the HQ values for Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn in
each sample were less than one, indicating that these metals have a
relatively low concentration and can be considered safe for human
health. However, the HQ values for Hg were found to be 112, 163 and
184 for samples 2, 3 and 6, indicating a serious threat to human health.
The HQ values are even higher when the calculation took into account
the factor of 100% bio accessibility. Similarly, HI values were measured,
which showed that most cosmetic samples had a value above 1, indi­
cating that excessive use of these products could pose a health risk to the
consumer as shown in Fig. 4(c, d). It has been reported that the toxi­
cological effect of cosmetic creams poses a serious threat to human
health. Recently, various cases have been reported in which females
were diagnosed with fussiness, arthralgia and dysesthesias when using
skin-whitening creams with a high content of mercury (Mudan et al.,
2019; Ori and Larsen, 2018).
3.3.2. Carcinogenic risk
The International Agency for Research on Cancer has listed Cd, Cr,
Pb and Ni as carcinogens. These metals can enter the body in two main
ways: by ingestion or penetration through the skin. These metals are not
biodegradable and they can accumulate in the body over a long period of
time. As a result, these metals not only alter the functions of cells, but
also cause disruption of intracellular process. Hence, cancer-related
diseases are exacerbated by impurities that cause oxidative stress,
DNA damage, and cell death. Lifetime Cancer Risk (LCR) is an estimate
of the potential cancer risk for users when exposed to heavy metals
present in cosmetic products. According to USEPA, the valid LCR range
is 1 × 10− 6 to 1 × 10− 4. USEPA considers a high cancer risk when the
LCR value is high enough, and any value below 1 × 10–4 is considered so
small as to be negligible. This means that a LCR value greater than 10–4
is a reference value for gathering additional information and indicates
an increased risk of carcinogenicity and should be given priority as a
public health concern. Therefore, LCR values were measured for cancer-
causing metals and found in the range of 8.81 × 10− 3 to 2.09 × 10− 1, as
shown in Fig. 5. It has been shown that the total LCR values for all
cosmetic samples (Fig. 5 inset) exceed the acceptable limit, and the
M. Irfan et al. Journal of Hazardous Materials 433 (2022) 128806

Table 1
Margin of Safety (MoS) of metals in selected samples of facial cosmetics using 50% and 100% bio accessibility.
MoS calculations using 50% bio accessibility

Cd Cr Ni Pb Zn Hg

1 15,030.85 6724.30 81,118.80 – 28,120.80 –

2 – 4945.65 268,972.75 – 43,017.55 8.90
3 – 7515.40 189,277.10 – 32,592.35 6.15
4 15,970.25 10,220.95 35,737.65 – 5552.45 333.30
5 – 17,034.95 – – 40,775.10 273.80
6 3813.79 11,273.12 91,258.60 – 24,617.00 5.45
7 – 5360.65 365,034.45 7627.60 – –
8 17,034.95 17,034.95 – 20,441.95 35,489.45 225.45
9 42,587.35 – – 34,069.90 – –
MoS calculations using 100% bio accessibility
Cd Cr Ni Pb Zn Hg
1 7515.40 3362.15 40,559.40 – 14,060.40 –
2 – 2472.80 134,486.40 – 21,508.75 4.45
3 – 3757.70 94,638.55 – 16,296.20 3.10
4 7985.15 5110.50 17,868.80 – 2776.25 166.65
5 – 8517.50 – – 20,387.55 136.90
6 1906.90 5636.55 45,629.30 – 12,308.50 2.70
7 – 2680.30 182,517.20 3813.80 – –
8 8517.50 8517.50 – 10,220.95 17,744.75 112.75
9 21,293.70 – – 17,034.95 – –

Fig. 4. Values of hazard quotient (HQ) and Hazard Index (HI) of metals in selected samples of cosmetic products using 50% and 100% bio accessibility.

collected cosmetic samples can have a lifetime risk of cancer when used
for an extended period of time. However, this potential risk depends on
various factors, such as the amount of cosmetic applied per day, the
surface area of the skin to which the sample is applied, the frequency of
product application and, in particular, the concentration of metals in the
sample.
3.4. Hydroquinone content and its evaluation with cosmetic standards
Among the different skin whitening agents, hydroquinone is the most
widely used in skin bleaching creams due to its known efficacy. It re­
duces the formation of melanin in the skin, which usually gives the skin
a brownish texture. Therefore, it is often used to lighten dark areas of the
skin such as aging, chloasma, hyperpigmentation, sun damage and acne
scars. The use of hydroquinone can cause temporary redness or dryness
in people, especially those with sensitive skin. Due to limited side

9
M. Irfan et al.
Fig. 5. Lifetime Cancer Risk (LCR) of metals including Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb in selected samples of cosmetic products using bio accessibility levels of 100%.
effects, European Union initially allowed the use of hydroquinone up to
2% in skin whitening creams by the Commission Directive 84/415/EEC.
Recently, its use has only been limited to hair dyes and artificial nail
systems due to its known toxic potentials, including irritation, hyper­
sensitivity, ochronosis and carcinogenicity (Chisvert et al., 2010).
Furthermore, its toxic potential becomes more severe in finding its
presence in the body fluid of person using skin whitening creams con­
taining hydroquinone. Therefore, EU countries have banned the sale of
any cosmetic products that contain hydroquinone as an ingredient.
Likewise, the EU, Pakistan and Canada cosmetic standards have also
prohibited any addition of hydroquinone to cosmetics, particularly in
facial creams (Gbetoh and Amyot, 2016; PSQC, 2017). However, a few
countries including the USA and West Africa have allowed its presence
of up to 1.5–2% (Gbetoh and Amyot, 2016). In this study, analysis of
cosmetic samples showed a significant presence of hydroquinone in the
range of 0.12–7.2% as shown in Fig. 6. This huge concentration is of
serious concern and exceeds the prevailing value recommended by
Fig. 6. Concentration of Hydroquinone (%) in cosmetic samples.
10
Journal of Hazardous Materials 433 (2022) 128806
national and international cosmetic standards. This value is actually too
high to exceed the maximum limit originally stated for hair dyes. It was
also interesting that none of the cosmetic brand showed any presence of
hydroquinone in the ingredients mentioned on the labels of cosmetics
samples. This means that the manufacturers of these products mislead
consumers by referring to the incorrect composition of the samples when
labeling the product. Gbetoh and Amyot (2016) also showed similar
findings and witnessed higher concentrations of hydroquinone
compared to the actual values on the product labels.
3.5. Comparison of pH values
The pH is another important factor that is imperative to measure
especially for end users having sensitive skin. The pH of facial creams
has an impact on skin and sometimes becomes a reason for skin irritation
and redness. It has been observed that cosmetic manufacturers and
suppliers are not used to measure the pH values of the cosmetic prod­
ucts. Therefore, this factor is often found to be a missing parameter on
the product label. Consequently, the pH of all samples was measured,
and it remained within the range of 5.1–7.5 as shown in Fig. 7.
Saudi Arabian and Pakistan cosmetic standards have identified the
benign range of pH that has to be maintained for the preparation of
cosmetic products. According to Pakistan’s cosmetic standard, the pH of
skin creams was recommended to prepare within the range of 4–9
(PSQC, 2017). Likewise, the Saudi Arabian Standards Organization
(SASO) has endorsed the pH range as 5–9.5 (SASO, 1999). The pH of a
healthy human skin surface is slightly acidic and is in the range of
5.4–5.9. It has been found that using care products with high pH value
caused an increase in dehydrated effect, irritability, and alteration in
bacterial flora (Tarun et al., 2014). Therefore, all products which are to
be used on the skin should have pH closer to normal human skin pH
value. Unfortunately, in this study, most of the samples did not mention
any pH value on their label. However, the pH of all collected samples
was found within the allowable range recommended by national and
international standards.
3.6. Microbiological analysis of facial creams
In this study, all of the cosmetic samples were well inspected at the
M. Irfan et al.
Fig. 7. pH analysis of collected cosmetic samples.
time of purchasing. All of these samples were found cleaned and un-
tempered. Moreover, all samples were examined as homogenous with
any separation of emulsion, sedimentation, or discoloration. In accor­
dance with Cosmetic Directive 2003/15/EC, the term PAO (period after
opening) was introduced that was based on microbiological criteria.
This term explains the period of any cosmetic product from its first
opening to the acceptable time during which it can be used without any
microbial contamination. However, all of these cream samples have not
mentioned PAO on their labels or descriptions. It was also reported that
cosmetic products including skin creams and lotions must contain less
than 103 colony-forming units (cfu) mL− 1 or cfu g− 1 of bacteria before
delivery to end users (Okeke and Lamikanra, 2001). Furthermore, this
quality level is expected to be retained during their use by the end user
despite the inevitable contamination from the users by the addition of
some specialty preservatives in the product. EU has specified the
guidelines on the microbiological quality of the finished cosmetic
product and classified the cosmetic products in two different categories.
The first category was related to cosmetic products that are intended to
be used for children under three years of age or applications on the eye
area. The maximum allowable concentration for total viable counts was
recommended as 102 cfu mL− 1 or cfu g− 1. For other products, the
allowable limit was set as 103 cfu mL− 1 or cfu g− 1 as suggested in the
second category (March et al., 2018). However, these products should be
free of potentially pathogenic organisms. Therefore, all of these samples
were studied for their total viable count, and results are shown in Fig. 8.
It was observed that at the time of sale, 55% of samples were free of
microbial contaminants. In addition, total viable counts for the rest of
the products were also found less than 102 cfu g− 1 indicating these were
also in the permissible range. However, when cosmetic samples were
analyzed after one month, it was found a remarkable difference in the
total viable counts’ values. After passing 30 days, it was examined that
44% of the cosmetic samples contained microbial counts above 102 cfu
g− 1. The reason for the presence of these microorganisms is that all
cosmetic products containing water, nutrients, vitamins and many other
organic substances provide a healthy environment for microbial growth.
In addition, many other factors, such as oxygenation conditions, tem­
perature, pH, osmotic pressure, and the addition of flavoring in­
gredients, can also facilitate microbial growth (March et al., 2018). The
growth of microorganisms can occur in different phases, including (i)
during the manufacturing of these products where raw materials
contribute a significant level of microbial contamination (ii) unsatis­
factory hygienic conditions of manufacturing areas and persons working
11
Journal of Hazardous Materials 433 (2022) 128806
Fig. 8. Microbiological analysis and evaluation of the selected sample of
facial creams.
there, and (iii) from consumer’s hands and body. This means that the
consumer is also responsible for using the cosmetic products appropri­
ately. However, this problem can be solved by adding potential pre­
servatives, which should be able to control microbes not only after
production or packaging, but also during their application by the end
user (Halla et al., 2018). In accordance with the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) and EU legislation, it is mentioned that safety of
the cosmetic products is the sole responsibility of a company or indi­
vidual who is responsible to sell the product (March et al., 2018). Pre­
vious studies have identified the presence of microbes such as
Pseudomonas Specie, Klebshialla Specie, Staphylococcus Specie and Bacillus
Specie etc. in different whitening creams (Aleem et al., 2020). In addi­
tion, it was also found that colored cosmetics are more prone to bacterial
contamination in comparison with non-colored products (Periz et al.,
2018). Therefore, additional efforts are required to pass legislation and
its further implementation for the production of high-quality cosmetic
products. The data presented in this study can also be used as input to
better evaluate cosmetic products, especially in Pakistan.
4. Conclusion
The present study was performed to evaluate pH, hydroquinone,
microorganism, and the presence of heavy metals in skin whitening
creams. All collected cosmetic samples contained a minor fraction of
heavy metals. However, the presence of Hg in some samples were
massively high exceeding the regulatory guidelines, recording up to
141 mg.kg− 1 and can pose serious health issues. The health risk
assessment showed that the MoS, HQ, and HI values of most samples
were within the acceptable range, but significantly exceeded the
acceptable range, especially for samples with higher Hg levels. The LCR
values of all samples also exceeded the permissible limit indicating their
carcinogenic effect. Likewise, few samples also showed a significant
presence of hydroquinone and not complying with recommended stan­
dard limits set by various national and international cosmetic standards.
Few cosmetic brands also did not identify the complete ingredients list,
concentration of metals, and hydroquinone on product labels that were
more problematic for end users. Similarly, collected samples have not
labeled any detail of stabilizers. Therefore, many samples showed an
elevated concentration of microorganisms within four weeks after their
opening. Regardless of whether the heavy metals concentrations in most
of the samples taken were within regulatory limits, daily exposure to
such products can cause cumulative effects such as a high risk of skin
cancer and other chronic diseases. Therefore, end users are suggested to
avoid excessive or long-term usage of these types of cosmetic products
M. Irfan et al.
for pursuit of beauty. In fact, it is critical to address key issues and
carefully evaluate and regulate all personal care products in a country
before they are placed on the market.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Muhammad Irfan: Experimentation, Original draft preparation.
Amir Shafeeq: Supervision, Project administration. Umair Siddiq: Data
analysis, Software. Farzana Bashir: Writing – review & editing. Tausif
Ahmad: Data analysis and Editing. Muhammad Tahir Butt: Data
analysis, Methodology. Muhammad Ather: Writing – review & editing,
Conceptualization. Ahmad Mukhtar: Resources, Validation. Sami
Ullah: Writing – review & editing, Investigation. Mohamad Hussein:
Formal analysis, Methodology. Su Shiung Lam: Supervision, Writing –
review & editing, Resources.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgment
We are grateful to the Institute of Chemical Engineering (ICET)
University of the Punjab and the Pakistan Council of Scientific Industrial
Research (PCSIR) for providing analytical research facilities and in­
struments. The authors would like to acknowledge the King Khalid
University, Saudi Arabia (Deanship of Scientific Research) for providing
the facilities and financial support through the Research Groups Project
under the grant number (R.G.P.2/169/42). The authors would also like
to thank Universiti Malaysia Terengganu under International Partner­
ship Research Grant (UMT/CRIM/2-2/2/23 (23), Vot 55302), and the
Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia under the Higher Institution
Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and
Fisheries (AKUATROP) program (Vot. No. 63933 & Vot. No. 56051,
UMT/CRIM/2-2/5 Jilid 2 (10)) for supporting Prof Lam to perform this
joint project.
Appendix A. Supporting information
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found in the
online version at doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128806.
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