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Heavy Metal Index

Facial cleansers (foaming, cream, gel, oil, micellar)

This page reports published measurements and their limitations. Compare values only when the product form, measurement basis, and metal species match.

7 related source records are associated with this category. This is a coverage count, not a measure of scientific confidence. References identify works cited in the text.

Overview

This page is a scaffolded entry for HMTc Taxonomy v2.0 Category 14 (Cosmetics and Personal Care — Rinse-off), Row 4: Facial cleansers (foaming, cream, gel, oil, micellar). Studies for this row are still being read. Where a section is empty, the row has not yet accumulated contributing sources of the required kind.

Literature scope

The Heavy Metal Index source corpus is currently focused on food and food-contact materials. This page documents an HMTc Taxonomy v2.0 row in the category Cosmetics and Personal Care — Rinse-off for which no peer-reviewed primary or government sources have yet been ingested. The page exists as the routing destination for future ingest. Until sources land, the literature-evidence sections below are deliberately empty rather than guessed; HMTc certification thresholds for products in this row continue to be developed under the certification program at heavymetalcertified.com, not on this public page.

Reading guide

Legal, regulatory and retailer teams can use the cited measurements, applicable limits and study limitations to assess the evidence for this category.

Quality teams can examine product form, measurement basis and sources of variation. Journalists and researchers can follow each reference to the original findings and methods.

Related tools and pages: heavymetalcertified.com · methodology

Evidence summary

Sources for this row will be listed here once they are catalogued.

Source Evidence Inventory

Sources for this row will be listed here once they are catalogued.

Supporting evidence and scope

Broader-scope sources for this row will be listed here when they are catalogued.

Federal/Regulatory Limits vs Field Findings

Regulatory limits for this row will be listed here once they are catalogued.

Controls and mitigation

Practical interventions to reduce heavy-metal load in this row, ordered by impact magnitude. Each lever names the magnitude of the effect with a cited source; cross-links to dedicated Mitigation pages where they exist.

How standards math uses this page

HMT&C certification thresholds for this row are developed under the certification program at heavymetalcertified.com, not on this page. The row-standard for this row is an aggregate computed from the contributing source pool in the row’s native finished-product basis; it is not a per-source decoration of any single value cited on this page. This public page reports literature evidence only.

Historical recalls and enforcement

Public regulatory events for this row, such as recalls and import alerts, will be listed here as they are catalogued.

Methodology

This page reports what the cited sources say about heavy-metal concentrations in facial cleansers (foaming, cream, gel, oil, micellar). Speciation is non-substitutable (iAs vs tAs, MeHg vs tHg, Cr-VI vs total Cr). Basis is preserved (finished-product as sold unless the source specifies otherwise; see each row for the basis label). Non-detect handling follows each source’s reporting convention. Pooling is avoided across LOD/LOQ, period, geography, and analytical-basis differences. HMT&C certification thresholds for products in this row are developed under the certification program at heavymetalcertified.com, not on this page; this public page reports literature evidence only.

The applicable regulatory jurisdictions for this row are: FDA cosmetics, EU Cosmetics Regulation 1223/2009.

Sources

Sources for this row will be listed here once they are catalogued.

Sources

Source records associated with this topic. Inclusion does not establish that every finding applies to this product or ingredient. References above identify works cited in the text.

#CitationYearTypeUsed on this page for
1Washington State Department of 2024. Policy Statement: Interim Policy on Lead in Cosmetics — enforcement discretion under the Washington Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act (Chapter 70A.560 RCW), Washington State Department of Ecology, Publication 24-04-036 (issued December 19, 2024; minor revisions and clarifications January 15, 2025)2024Government reportUS-WA Pb occurrence in Regulatory enforcement-discretion policy issued by the Washington State Department of Ecology under authority of the Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act…
2Bîrsan et al. 2023. Mercury exposure in cosmetics and human health risk, Farmacia2023Peer-reviewedPL tHg occurrence in six high-demand cosmetic product categories (face creams, hand creams, cleansing milk, body lotions, foot creams, toothpaste), seven products… (n=42)
3Almukainzi et al. 2022. Quality and safety investigation of commonly used topical cosmetic preparations, Scientific Reports 12:182992022Peer-reviewedSA/US/EU Pb, Cd, tAs, Al, Cr, Cu, Ni, Fe, Zn, Mn, Co occurrence in Twenty-one topical cosmetic products purchased from local markets and drug stores in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Product selection was… (n=21)
4Zafarzadeh et al. 2018. Assessment of cadmium and lead concentrations in different types of cosmetics products consumed in Iran, National Journal of Physiology, Pharmacy and Pharmacology 8(8):1200-12042018Peer-reviewedIR/CN/TR Cd, Pb occurrence in 264 cosmetic products purchased from shops in Gorgan, Iran from September 2016 to March 2017: 24 samples each… (n=264)
5U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011. Exposure Factors Handbook: 2011 Edition — Chapter 17, Consumer Products, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA/600/R-09/052F2011Government reportChapter 17 of the U.S. EPA’s 2011 Exposure Factors Handbook (EFH) compiles consumer-product use and exposure data — frequency of…
6Tjandraatmadja et al. 2010. Sources of contaminants in domestic wastewater: nutrients and additional elements from household products, CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country National Research Flagship Report (Smart Water Fund Round 3 — Project 5), February 2010 (ISSN 1835-095X)2010IndustryAU Sb, Cr, Co, Mo, Se occurrence in One hundred and fifty-six household and personal-care products purchased from major supermarkets in Melbourne, Australia between February and… (n=156)
7European Chemical Industry Ecology 1992. Nickel, Cobalt and Chromium in Consumer Products: Allergic Contact Dermatitis, ECETOC Technical Report No. 45, Brussels, March 1992 (ISSN 0773-8072-45)1992IndustryEU/US/IL Ni, Co, Cr, Cr-VI occurrence in Literature-review compilation of nickel, cobalt and chromium concentrations measured in consumer products by 28 published studies (1956-1990) and…

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