Before being placed on the market, all cosmetics undergo a battery of safety tests to safeguard consumers from possible side-effects. Despite these controls, sometimes cosmetics do have side effects: some are immediate and visible reactions, others may appear with prolonged use. Among decorative cosmetics, eye shadows deserve particular attention because they are applied in the peri-ocular area, the area around the eyes where the facial skin thinnest; here the risk of percutaneous absorption of the pigments — and thus of toxic elements — is very high as is the risk of developing irritative and/or allergic skin reactions. In this work nine compact powder eye shadows — very inexpensive products sold in Italy and targeted to children and adults — were examined for the first time in order to i) determine the Ni, Co and Cr concentrations, ii) quantify the “water” soluble chromium and at the same time, iii) obtain the particle size distribution of the water-dispersible submicro-particles contained in all powders. In many cases, the Cr, Co and Ni concentrations, determined by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (GF-AAS), were higher than 1 or 5 ppm (µg/g), i.e. the limits recommended in the scientific literature to minimize the risk of reaction in particularly sensitive subjects. In most cases, the concentration of Cr was higher than that of Ni and Co, up to a limit case of 150 mg/g. In this particular sample, the potential amount of Cr that could be released in ionic form was determined in sweat simulating solutions by GF-AAS and confirmed through a specific spectrofluorimetric method; the results indicated the presence of approximately 80-90 ppb (ng/g) of Cr3+. The water dispersible particles were isolated from the eye shadow powders through a simple solvent extraction procedure. The aqueous suspensions were then sorted through Sedimentation Field Flow Fractionation (SdFFF) and the particles sizes were calculated from experimental fractograms using theory. For the most part, the computed sizes were in the micron range, as confirmed by some SEM photographs taken on fractions collected during the separations. The SdFFF coupled off-line with the GFAAS enabled elemental characterization of pigment particles as a function of size.This finding reduces the concern that the ingredients of such makeup formulations may contain nanoparticles.
A new strategy for pressed powder eye shadows analysis: Allergenic metal ions content and particle size distribution of the insoluble matter
CONTADO, Catia
2012
Abstract
Before being placed on the market, all cosmetics undergo a battery of safety tests to safeguard consumers from possible side-effects. Despite these controls, sometimes cosmetics do have side effects: some are immediate and visible reactions, others may appear with prolonged use. Among decorative cosmetics, eye shadows deserve particular attention because they are applied in the peri-ocular area, the area around the eyes where the facial skin thinnest; here the risk of percutaneous absorption of the pigments — and thus of toxic elements — is very high as is the risk of developing irritative and/or allergic skin reactions. In this work nine compact powder eye shadows — very inexpensive products sold in Italy and targeted to children and adults — were examined for the first time in order to i) determine the Ni, Co and Cr concentrations, ii) quantify the “water” soluble chromium and at the same time, iii) obtain the particle size distribution of the water-dispersible submicro-particles contained in all powders. In many cases, the Cr, Co and Ni concentrations, determined by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (GF-AAS), were higher than 1 or 5 ppm (µg/g), i.e. the limits recommended in the scientific literature to minimize the risk of reaction in particularly sensitive subjects. In most cases, the concentration of Cr was higher than that of Ni and Co, up to a limit case of 150 mg/g. In this particular sample, the potential amount of Cr that could be released in ionic form was determined in sweat simulating solutions by GF-AAS and confirmed through a specific spectrofluorimetric method; the results indicated the presence of approximately 80-90 ppb (ng/g) of Cr3+. The water dispersible particles were isolated from the eye shadow powders through a simple solvent extraction procedure. The aqueous suspensions were then sorted through Sedimentation Field Flow Fractionation (SdFFF) and the particles sizes were calculated from experimental fractograms using theory. For the most part, the computed sizes were in the micron range, as confirmed by some SEM photographs taken on fractions collected during the separations. The SdFFF coupled off-line with the GFAAS enabled elemental characterization of pigment particles as a function of size.This finding reduces the concern that the ingredients of such makeup formulations may contain nanoparticles.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
