J. Cosmet. Sci., 65, 239–244 (July/August 2014) 239 Assessment of cadmium, lead, and nickel levels in hair care products marketed in Turkey HANDE SIPAHI, MOHAMMAD CHAREHSAZ, IPEK SONMEZ, BUĞRA SOYKUT, ONUR ERDEM, and AHMET AYDIN, Department of Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Yeditepe University, Istanbul (H.S., M.C., I.S., A.A.), and Department of Toxicology, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara (B.S., O.E.), Turkey. Accepted for publication May 23, 2014. Synopsis This study evaluated the content of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and nickel (Ni) in 105 hair care products com- mercially available in Turkey. Cd, Pb, and Ni were detected in 40%, 21.91%, and 94.29% of the samples, respectively. Maximum Cd concentrations were detected in two shampoo samples, and the highest Pb level was found in a hair conditioner, all of them were herbal-based formulations. The highest mean levels of Ni were detected in hairstyling agents. The overall results were lower than the Canadian and German regulatory limits however, according to the European Council Directive and Turkish Cosmetic Legislation, Cd, Pb, and Ni are listed as the substances that are prohibited in any amounts in cosmetics. Moreover, Ni content of 17.14% of the samples was above the limit of allergic contact dermatitis. It is known that these toxic metals tend to accumulate in body and prolonged use of them may potentially pose threat to human health. Thus, regular market monitoring and safer limits should be seriously considered especially for susceptible groups of the population like the pediatric group. INTRODUCTION Cosmetic products are commonly used by millions of consumers on a daily basis. Within the last few decades, there has been a great increase in the number of cosmetic industries producing various types of cosmetic products, which are needed for the care and good appearance of skin, hair, nails, teeth, and body (1,2). Cosmetics however were shown to be possibly contaminated by unwanted impurities such as toxic metallic powders of nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and cadmium (Cd), which are unintentionally introduced to the cosmetics during their preparation. The metallic impurities in cosmetics have been dis- putable due to the biological accumulation of the metals and their possible dermal and systemic health problems in humans (3,4). There have been a number of studies about the presence of heavy metals in cosmetic products. In a study conducted by Nnorom et al., the Address all correspondence to Ahmet Aydin at ahmet.aydin@yeditepe.edu.tr.

JOURNAL OF COSMETIC SCIENCE 240 trace metals content of facial cosmetics commonly used in Nigeria were examined. Re- sults indicated that the concentration of Pb in the candy lipstick product is 2.8 times higher than the limit value regulated by American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (5). In another study, it was found that more than half of the 33 tested lipsticks from top local brands contained detectable Pb (6). In a similar study, Al-Saleh et al. assessed the levels of Pb, Cd, Ni, chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg), arsenic (As), and antimony (Sb) in 28 samples of 14 lipstick brands in Saudi Arabia (7). While this study found that the levels of all metals were lower than the FDA limits, As level (3 μg/g) was higher than the limit value in one brand of lipstick. Also, the levels of Ni in 10 and Cr in 4 of the 28 lipsticks were found to be above the trigger limit of 1 μg/g for allergic contact dermatitis. Ayen- imo et al. demonstrated that personal care products, including soaps, cosmetic, and hair creams, are notable sources of Cd and Cr in the human body (8). In another study, Sin et al. revealed high levels of Hg in cosmetic creams (9). Although some information have been reported on the metal content of different cos- metic products, few data exist on the hair care products in literature. There is also a lim- ited amount of information on this fi eld in Turkey. This study examined the levels of Cd, Pb, and Ni in commonly used hair care products commercially sold in Turkey. Data gen- erated through this study will procreate awareness about risks associated with the use of these products and also provide baseline information for further studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS All chemicals and metal stock standard solutions were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO) and Merck (Darmstadt, Germany). One hundred and fi ve samples from 51 different brands commonly sold in Turkey were randomly purchased from different markets in Istanbul and classifi ed as shampoos, hair conditioners, hairstyling agents (hair sprays, setting lotions and setting mousses, hair creams and hair gels), and pediatric bath cleaning products. Samples (0.5 g) were fi rst transferred to Tefl on acid digestion cups. Three milliliters of 65% nitric acid (HNO3) and 1 ml of 44% hydrofl uoric acid were then added to samples and digested in a microwave acid digestion unit (Milestone Mega 1200, Bergamo, Italy) according to the manufacturer’s application notes. The digested samples were then quan- titatively transferred and diluted to 5.0 ml with triply distilled water (Simplicity Water Purifi cation System, Millipore, Molsheim, France). Cd, Pb, and Ni determination in digested samples were done by using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) with Zeeman background correction (Analytic Jena, Zeenit 700, Jena, Germany). The calibration curve was plotted with standard solutions of Cd (0.2–1 μg/l), Pb (6–34 μg/l), and Ni (6–30 μg/l). All standards were prepared in 0.05% HNO3. Suitable dilutions were prepared from digested samples with triply dis- tilled water. Peak Signal area mode was used for quantifi cations and the manufacturer’s application notes were used for metal measurements checking validation parameters. Table I shows AAS furnace parameters. All of the results are expressed as the mean ± S.D. The differences between the groups were evaluated with Kruskal–Wallis analysis of variance and comparisons between two