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Heavy Metal Index

Nickel release from mineral make-up powders and pigments

Lodén patch tested 23 nickel-sensitive subjects. Seventy-four percent reacted to nickel sulfate 5 percent in petrolatum.

Lodén patch tested 23 nickel-sensitive subjects. Seventy-four percent reacted to nickel sulfate 5 percent in petrolatum. None reacted to the mineral make-up powders or to pigments dispersed in alkyl benzoate at 50 percent. The study did not analyse the powders for nickel. Supplier specifications printed in the methods, less than 200 ppm nickel and less than 10 ppm nickel for named lots, are supplier statements, not measurements by the authors.

Key numbers

Nickel-sensitive subjects: 23. Positive to nickel sulfate 5 percent petrolatum: 74 percent. Positive to the mineral powders and pigments tested: none. Supplier nickel specifications: less than 200 ppm and less than 10 ppm, as printed next to lot codes. Those specifications are not assay results.

Methods (brief)

Patch testing and a non-invasive erythema instrument. No ICP or other metal assay of the cosmetics is described.

Evidence fitness

The negative patch tests support a clinical statement about these test articles in nickel-sensitive adults. They do not support a nickel concentration in baby powder.

Limitations

Supplier specifications are not the study’s data. Adult make-up powders are the matrix. Brand and supplier names are omitted.

Update history

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