Microbial contamination of cosmetic products 19 On several occasions both these types of organism were isolated from the same product. Gram-negative rods were isolated from nine cosmetic products which included three cleansers, two hair preparations, two dental products, one hand-cream and one eye pro- duct, as shown in Table II. Several free-living bacteria were isolated from the dental powder. None of these preparations showed visible signs of bacterial contamination or degradation, despite the fact that the counts ranged from 10a-10 ø organisms g-• or ml -•. When counts on these products were repeated a year later, in seven instances the counts were found to be unchanged no evidence of contamination was detected, however, in the dental cream or in the moisture cream. Table II. Gram-negative rods found in cosmetics No. of organisms Contaminant Product (g-• or ml -•) t'seudomonas aeruginosa Lanolin hand-cream 1-2 X 10 a t'. maltophilia Mascara 7.0 X 10 5 P. pseudoalcaligenes Cleansing milk 3.1 X 10 4 P. pseudoalcaligenes Hair cream 1.9 x 10 4 t'..fluorescens Hair oil 4.0 x 10 • t'. putida Cleansing jelly 2.5 X 10 • Moraxella osloensis Moisture cream 1.3 x 10 a Enterobacter cloacae Dental cream 2.3 x 10 5 Klebsiella nerogenes Dental powder 3-4 X 10 6 K. oxytoca Dental powder Erwinia herbicola Dental powder Enterobacter cloacae Dental powder Discussion There are a numb'er of explanations for the differing results from the surveys on the :':• incidence of contamination in cosmetic products. Different types of product have been sampled certain products, particularly aqueous products, are known to be more suscept- ible to contamination than others. In some surveys only one type of product has been sampled, such as cosmetics for the eye (5). Methods of sampling and cultivation have also / varied some have involved direct culture of the product, whilst others have used enrich- ment techniques. In the case of the latter, higher contamination rates have generally been '? found. Neutralization of antibacterial agents has also varied from survey to survey, or '.may have been overlooked. :'.. •' With one exception (8), the results from all surveys, including this one, are based on the examination of a limited number of samples, mostly less than 250 products. Interpre- i/:• tation of results, expressed as percentages, is therefore restricted, but these results may be .:Used for comparative purposes. Two recent studies have suggested that the incidence of :contamination may be declining (2, 7). Evidence for an overall improvement in micro- ' biological quality in cosmetic products is not, however, conclusive. Higher contamination ß 'rates in our survey may be partly explained by the use of a broth enrichment method and - by the selection of aqueous, in preference to oily, products. •: Our results support the findings of others in that some form of contamination in the '::i: finished product seems to be inevitable at present, particularly contamination caused by aerobic spore bearers and Gram-positive cocci. Of more concern, however, is the presence

20 Rosamund M. Baird of Gram-negative bacteria and especially Pseudomonas spp. In this study Gram-negative bacteria were isolated from 6.1• of cosmetics and Pseudomonas spp. from 4.1• of cosmetics. This interest in the cosmetic field has been stimulated by the increasing number of reports on the occurrence of these types of organisms in pharmaceutical products. Recently, attention has been drawn to the problem of contamination by some of the less generally considered pathogens. Use of such contaminated preparations in hospitals has in some cases been associated with the development of clinical infections in patients. Certain cosmetics, such as hand-cream and lotions, are frequently used in hospitals to prevent chapping of hands and in the control of cross-infection. Studies at this hospital have shown that these products may be an important source of contamination and that continued use of such products can contribute to the spread of nosocomial infections in the ward (11, 12). Although much of the evidence for the occurrence and significance of contamination in cosmetics and toiletties is conflicting and inconclusive, it would be wrong to assume that the hazard does not exist. More information is required on the incidence of contami- nation in both used and unused cosmetics, using standardized methods of sampling and cultivation. This is a fruitful area for collaboration between the microbiologist and pharmacist in industry and their counterparts in hospital. Acknowledgments I wish to thank Professor R. A. Shooter for interest and encouragement during this work, Mr Z. Awad for technical assistance, and Dr S. P. Lapage and his staff in the Computer Laboratory, Central Public Health Laboratory for confirming the identity of some of the isolates, The work was supported by the Department of Health and Social Security. References 1 Wolven, A. and Levenstein, I. Cosmetics---contaminated or not. T.G.A. Cosmetic J. 1 34 (1969). 2 Wolven, A. and Levenstein, I. Microbiological examination of cosmetics. Am. Cosmet. l•erfum. 87 63 (1972). 3 Heiss, F. Keimgehalt yon Korperpflegemittela. Fette Seifen Anstrichmitte169 365 (1967). 4 Dunnigan, A. P. and Evans, J. R. Report of a special survey: microbiological contamination of topical drugs and cosmetics. T.G.A. Cosmetic J. 2 39 (1970). 5. Wilson, L. A., Keuhne, J. W., Hall, W. and Ahearn, D. G. Microbial contamination in ocular cosmetics. Am. J. Ophthal. 71 1298 (1971). 6 Myers, G. E. and Pasutto, F. M. Microbial contamination of cosmetics and toiletries. Canad. J. Pharm. Sci. 8 19 (1973). 7 Jarvis, B., Reynolds, A. J., Rhodes, A. C. and Armstrong, M. A survey of microbiological contami- nation in cosmetics and toiletties in the U.K. (1971). J. Soc. Cosmet. Chem. 25 563 (1974). 8 The 1974 Scientific Conference Committee Reports. CTFA. Cosmetic J. 7 3 (1975). 9 Tremewan, H. C. Tetanus neonatorum in New Zealand. N.Z. Med. J. 45 312 (1946). 10 Morse, L. J., Williams, H. L., Green, F. P., Eldridge, E. E. and Rotta, J. R. Septicaemia due to Klebsiella pneumoniae originating from a handcream dispenser. New Eng. J. Med. 277 472 (1967). 11 Cooke, E. M., Shooter, R. A., O'Farrell, S. M. and Martin, D. R. Faecal carriage of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by new-born babies. Lancet, ii 1045 (1970). 12 Baird, R. M. A study of the microbial contamination of pharmaceutical products and their possible role in dissemination of infection throughout hospitals. Ph.D. thesis, University of London (1975).