Levels of Hydroquinone, Selected Heavy Metals (Hg, Pb, As) and Chemical requirements in Some Skin Lightening Creams Sold in Mbarara Municipality
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47672/ejps.748Keywords:
Heavy metals, Chemical requirements, Hydroquinone, Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry, High performance liquid chromatographyAbstract
In this study, Skin-lightening creams commonly sold in Mbarara municipality were analyzed for chemical parameters (pH, thermal stability and fatty substance content), total hydroquinone, Lead, Mercury, and Arsenic contents. Total heavy metal content was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The levels of hydroquinone were determined using High Performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). All the creams showed detectable mean levels of mercury, ranging from 0.07±0.01ppm to 0.33±0.01ppm. Only 26.31% of the creams showed detectable levels of lead and 15.79% creams recorded detectable levels of arsenic. The mean levels of hydroquinone ranged from 0.54±0.02% to 4.47±0.02%. All the creams passed the thermal stability and fatty substance content tests. However, all the creams had very low pH values below the recommended 4.5- 8.5 pH ranges by Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS). The levels of mercury, arsenic and lead in the samples were less than the UNBS, European Union and US Food and Drug Administration’s acceptable limits. Only 84.2% of the cream samples analyzed contained hydroquinone levels higher than the recommended WHO limit of 2%. The use of such creams may lead to serious health hazards. While the low concentrations of heavy metals detected in the cream samples analyzed do not pose any potential risk to consumers, repeated application of these creams may cause a cumulative effect over prolonged exposure. The low pH values may cause skin irritations. Therefore, the community needs to be sensitized on the implications of using skin lightening creams and UNBS should conduct periodic analysis to ascertain the levels of hydroquinone, heavy metals, and chemical requirements of skin lightening creams sold in Uganda as well as encourage manufacturers to state the exact bleaching agents in their creams.
Downloads
References
References
Frost, P. (01/01/1990). Fair women,dark men:The forgotten roots of colour prejudice. History of European ideas , 669-679.
Balaguer, A., Salvador., A., & Chisvert, A. (2008). A rapid and reliable size-exclusion chromatographic method for determination of kojic dipalmitate in skin-whitening cosmetic products. Talanta: PubMed , 101-102.
Omolaoye., J. A., Uzairu, A., & Gimba, C. E. (2010, 5 2). Heavy metal assessment of some eyeshadow products imported to Nigeria from China, Arch. Appl. Sci. Res. pp. 76–84.
UNBS. (2013). Final Draft Uganda Standard. Arusha, Tanzania: East African Community.
US FDA. (2010,, October 28). Retrieved from Lipstick and Lead: Questions and Answers:http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/ProductandIngredientSafety/ProductInformation/ucm137224.htm
Perry. (2006). Buying white beauty. Cardozo J Law Gend 12:579–607.
Dadzie, O. E., & Petit, A. J. (2009). Skin bleaching: highligting the misuse of cutaneous depigmenting agents. Eur Acad Dermatol Venerol , 3(7): 741-750.
Hcsc. (2010, November 5). Retrieved July 25, 2018, from Draft Guidance on Heavy Metal Impurities in Cosmetics: http://www.hcsc.gc.ca/cps-spc/legislation/consultation/_cosmet/metal-metauxconsulteng.php.
Al-Saleh, I., & Al-Doush, I. (1997). Mercury content in skin-lightening creams and potential hazards to the health of Saudi women. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health , 51(2):123–130.
Badreshia-Bansal, S., & Draelos, Z. (2007). Insight into skin lightening cosmeceuticals for women of color. J. Drugs Dermatol., 6, 32-39.
Jan, A. T., Ali, A., & Haq, Q. M. (2011). Glutathione as an antioxidant in inorganic mercury induced nephrotoxicity. J. Postgrad. Med. . [PubMed], 57, 72–77.
Ladizinski, B., Mistry, N., & Kundu, R. V. (2011). Widespread use of toxic skin lightening compounds: medical and psychosocial aspects. Dermatologic Clinics.
Ratnaike, R. N. (2003). Acute and Chronic Arsenic toxicity. Postgrad MedJ , 79:391-6.
Ademuyiwa, O., Agarwal, R., Chandra, R., & Behari, J. R. (2009). Lead induced phospho lipidosis and cholesterogenesis in rat tissues. chemico-Biol.interact , 179: 314-320.
Ajose, F. O. (2005). Consequences of skin bleaching in Nigerian men and women-. International Journal of Dermatology, doi:10.1111/j.13654632.2005.02812.x , 44, 41-43.
Kooyers, T. J., & Westerhof, W. (2005). Toxicology and health risk of hydroquinone in skin lightening formulations. Journal of the European academy of Dermatology and Venereology , 20:777-780.
Aldrich, & Chemical, C. (1990). Aldrich catalog. Handbook of Fine Chemicals., M Milwaukee, WI,Van Norstrad.co , 235.
Ayenimon, J. G., Yusuf, A. M., Adekule, A. S., & Makinde, O. W. (2010). Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. In Heavy metal exposure from personal care product (pp. 8-14).
Theresa, O. C., Onebunne, O. C., Dorcas, W. A., & Ajan, O. I. (2011). Potentially toxic metals exposure from body creams sold in Lagos Nigeria.
Odumoso, P. O., & Ekwe, T. O. (2010). Identification and spectrophotometric determination of hydroquinone levels in some creams. African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology , 4: 231-234.
National Toxicology Program (NTP). (1989). Toxicology and Carcinogenesis Studies of Hydroquinone (CAS No. 12331-9) in F344/N Rats and B6C3F (mice galvages). Bethesda: U.S. Department of Health andHuman Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health.
Penney, K. B., Smith, C. J., & Allen, J. C. (1984). Depigmenting action of hydroquinone depends on disruption of fundamental cell processes. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 82, 308-310.
Briganti, S., Camera, ,. E., & Picardo, M. (2003). Chemical and instrumental approaches to treat hyperpigmentation. Pigment Cell Research 16, 101-110.
Gupta, A. K., Gover, M. D., Nouri, K., & Taylor, S. (2006). The treatment of melasma: a review of clinical trials. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 55, 1048-1065.
Park, J. D., & Zheng, W. (2012). Human exposure and health effects of inorganic and elemental mercury. Journal of Preventative Medicine and Public Health, 45 (6): 344-52.
Engler, D. E. (2005). Letter to the editor: Mercury “bleaching” creams. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, ., 52(6):1113–1114.
Hamann, C. R., Boonchai, W., & Wen, L. (2014). Spectrometric analysis of mercury content in 549 skin-lightening products: Is mercury toxicity a hidden global health hazard? Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology , 70 (2): 281-7.e3.
Ramakant, S., Poornima, S., & Sapna, J. (January 2014). Heavy Metals in Cosmetics. New Delhi: Tughlakabad Institutional Area.
Bates, N. (2003). Metallic and inorganic mercury poisoning. Emerg. Nurse [CrossRef] [PubMed , 11, 25–31.
WHO. ( 1991). . Environment health criteria 118. Inorganic Mercury. World Health Organisation.
Marzulli, F. N., & Brown, D. W. (1972). Potential systemic hazards of topically applied mercurials. In J Soc Cosmet Chem (pp. 23: 875-886).
Enwon wu, C. O. (1987). Potential health hazard of the use of mercury in dentistry:Critical review of the Literature. Environ Res , 42: 257-274.
Kahatano, J. M., Mnali, S. R., & Akagi, H. (1998). A study of Mercury Levels in Fish andHumans in Mwakkitolyo Mine and Mwanza Town in the Lake Victoria Gold-Fields, Tanzania. Br Med J , 2: 543-545.
Kuhnert, P. M., Kuhnert, B. R., & Ehrard, P. (1981). Comparison of mercury levels in maternal blood, fetal cord blood and placental tissues. Am J Obstet Gynecol , 139: 209-213.
Regulation International Cooperation on Cosmetics. (2013, December). Retrieved from Considerations on Acceptable LeadLevelsin Cosmetic Products: http://iccrnet.org/topics.
Bellinger, D. C. (2008). very low lead exposures and children's neurodevelopment. Curr Opin Pediatr, 20:172-7.
Sanders, T., Liu, Y., Buchner, V., & Tchounwou, P. B. (2009). Neurotoxic effects and biomarkers of lead exposure: A review. Rev. Environ Health, 24:15-45.
Iwegbue, C. M., Bassey, F. I., Tesi, G. O., Onyeloni, S. O., Obi, G., & Marticingh, B. S. (2015). Safety evaluation of metal exposure from commonly used moisturizing and skin lightening creams in Nigeria. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology , 71(3),484-490.
Amit, S. C., Rekha, B., & Atul, K. S. (2010). Determination of Lead and Cadmium in cosmetic products. Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Research , 2(6):92-97.
Alqadami, A. A., Abdalla, M. A., Alothman, Z. A., & Omer, K. (2013). application of solid phase extraction on multiwalled nanotubes of some heavy metal ions to analysis of skin whitening cosmetics usin ICP-AES. Int J Environ Res Public Health , 10:361-74.
Naujokas, M. F., Anderson, B., & Ahsan, H. (2013). The broad scope of health effects from chronic arsenic exposure: update on a worldwide public health problem. Environ Health Perspect , 121:295.
Centers for disease control and prevention. (2016). CDC-NBP-factsheet- Arsenic:CDC. CDC.
Lucero, M. J., Vigo, J., & Lecin, M. J. (1994). A study of shear and compress deformations gels of tretinoin on hydrophilic . International journal of pharmaceutics, 106, 125-133.
Öhman, H., & Vahlquist, A. (1994). In Vivo Studies Concerning a pH Gradient in Human Stratum Corneum and Upper Epidermis. Acta Dermato-Venereologica, 375-379.
Elias, P. M. (2005). Stratum Corneum Defensive Functions: An Integrated View. Journal of Investigative Dermatology , 183-200.
Fluhr, J. W., Kao, J., Jain, S., Ahn, K., Feingold, R., & Elias, P. M. (2001). Generation of Free Fatty Acids from Phospholipids Regulates Stratum
Mariotti, D., & Frasson, A. P. (2011). Avaliado da estabilidade e atividade antioxidante de formulacoes cosmeticas contendo extrato etanolico dos frutos de Fragaravia vesca l (morango). informa, 3-4.
Mak-Mensah, E. E., & Firempong, C. K. (2011). Chemical characteristics of toilet soap prepared from neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) seed oil. Asian J. Plant Sci. Res. 1(4), 1-7.
Deusche, V. C., Deusche, R. A., Bortoluzzi, M. R., & Athayde, M. L. (2015). Physical chemistry evaluation of stability, spreadability, in vitro anti oxidant, and photo protective capacities of topical formulations containing Calendula officinalis L.leaf extract viviane. Journal pf pharmaceutical sciences , 51(1) 63-75.
Deuschle, V. C., Deuschle, R. A., & Athayde, M. R. (2015). Physical chemistry evaluation of stability, spreadability, in vitro antioxidant, and photo-protective capacities of topical formualations containing Calendula officinalis L. leaf extract. brazillian journal of pharmaceutical sciences vol.51, 68-71.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Derick Muloogi, Irene Nalumansi, Denis Byamugisha
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal.
