Studying the Lead Concentration Rate in the Most Popular Eye Shadow Cosmetcis in Isfahan City, Iran

Lead can penetrate into the human body through various routes including ingestion, inhalation and cutaneous. Using cosmetic products such as lipstick and eye shadow is considered as one of the cutaneous sources of lead entrance into the body. Pregnancy hypertension, IQ loss and abortion are the major adverse effects of lead absorption. Lead concentration in most popular brands was investigated in this study in order to identify the best quality of the consumed eye shadows. This was a descriptive-analytical study conducted in Isfahan city in 2011. The information about most widely consumed brands of cosmetics eye shadows were obtained from the major cosmetics and makeup sellers. Based on the statistical procedures, 15 samples of high-consumed eye shadow brands were selected and analyzed by the Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS). Lead concentration in all the studied subjects was 0.85 to 6 µg /g of eye shadow based on their wet or fresh mass. The total mean lead level in all the samples was 3.53µg/g. The maximum and minimum lead concentration in the samples were obtained in Flomar (5.66 µg/g) and Kavian (1.5 µg/g) brands, respectively. In this study, lead concentration of the eye shadows was lower than the recommended value by the Amercian food and drug administration (FDA). In order to prevent from the adverse and harmful health effects of the cosmetic products on human, particularly on pregnant women and infants, the lead levels of the cosmetics must be monitored.