Assessment of Lead and Cadmium Levels in Frequently Used Cosmetic Products in Iran

Overview

Nourmoradi and colleagues quantified lead and cadmium by graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrometry in 50 cosmetic samples purchased from cosmetic stores in Isfahan, Iran: 35 lipsticks (5 colors × 7 brands) and 15 eye shadows (3 colors × 5 brands). The reported ranges are lead (Pb) 0.08–5.2 µg/g and cadmium (Cd) 4.08–60.20 µg/g for lipsticks and Pb 0.85–6.90 µg/g and Cd 1.54–55.59 µg/g for eye shadows on a wet-weight basis. Cadmium content exceeded lead content in both product categories, and the eye shadow range for both metals exceeded the lipstick range. The authors compare results to the FDA cosmetic Pb guidance of 20 µg/g (all samples below) and the Health Canada cosmetic Cd guidance of 3 µg/g (most samples above).

Key numbers

Per-brand mean, min, max, and reported standard deviation from Table 1 (p. 2; µg/g of wet weight; brands are anonymised as 1–7 for lipsticks and 1–5 for eye shadows in the paper itself):

Frequency distribution of Pb concentration across the 50 samples (Table 2, p. 3; % within each class):

Frequency distribution of Cd concentration across the 50 samples (Table 3, p. 3; % within each class):

Per-color summary across the same 50 samples (Table 4, p. 4; µg/g of wet weight):

Reported significance tests (Section 3, p. 2–3): cadmium content higher than lead content in both product categories (P < 0.04); significant between-brand difference in mean lead for lipsticks (P = 0.018) and eye shadows (P = 0.02); significant between-brand difference in mean cadmium for lipsticks (P < 0.03) but not for eye shadows (P > 0.05); the heavy-metal content range was higher in eye shadows than lipsticks (P < 0.001 for Pb and P = 0.04 for Cd); lipsticks with copper color had the highest mean Pb (2.21 µg/g) and Cd (27.20 µg/g) of any color, but the between-color differences were not statistically significant (P > 0.2); eye shadows with golden color had a significantly higher cadmium concentration (P = 0.043) but no significant difference for lead by color (P = 0.92). The detection limit of the GFAAS instrument was 0.1 ppb for both metals.

Regulatory reference values cited by the paper (Section 3, p. 2–3):

All 50 samples are below the FDA 20 µg/g Pb cap; the authors report that most samples exceed the Health Canada 3 µg/g Cd guidance and that 29.4 % of lipsticks and 66.7 % of eye shadows have Cd above 20 µg/g.

Methods (brief)

Cosmetic samples were purchased from large cosmetic stores in Isfahan, Iran. Each sample was prepared by digesting 1 g of product with 5 mL of concentrated nitric acid (Merck, 99.99 %) in a 100 mL Pyrex glass beaker on a hot plate at 80 °C until dry; the digestion was repeated twice. Then 1 mL of concentrated hydrogen peroxide was added to oxidise residual organic matter. The residual material was diluted to 50 mL with deionised water and filtered through a 0.45 µm Whatman filter. Lead and cadmium concentrations in the filtrate were quantified by graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS, Model AAnalyst 300) with a reported detection limit of 0.1 ppb for both metals. Results are reported as µg/g on a wet-weight basis. Statistical analysis used SPSS-16 one-way ANOVA with significance defined at P = 0.05.

Speciation: total Pb and total Cd only; no inorganic-vs-organic speciation step. The paper does not enumerate per-metal LOQ values beyond stating the LOD, does not report recovery from a certified reference material, and does not state digestion-vessel rinse procedure or blank correction explicitly.

Implications

• Certification (HMTc): Direct occurrence evidence for lipstick (35 samples, 5 colors × 7 brands) and eye-makeup (15 eye-shadow samples, 3 colors × 5 brands) as marketed in Isfahan, Iran. The lipstick row currently routes to a retired products/lipstick page (Cat 2 cleanup 2026-05-16) because the underlying papers describe adult lip cosmetics that do not belong in Cat 2 (ages 0–5); adult lipstick is queued for a future Cat 13 (Leave-on Cosmetics, adult) row. Until that row is built, this source contributes to the pooled occurrence dataset that will inform Cat 13 thresholds when the category is scaffolded. The eye-shadow data routes to eye-makeup (Cat 13 Row 7) as direct occurrence evidence. Sample frame is small (n = 35 lipsticks, n = 15 eye shadows) and limited to a single city in a single year; treat as one contributing entry in a multi-source pool rather than a standalone anchor for any threshold.

• Courses: Useful as a teaching case for (a) the divergence among published cosmetic heavy-metal limits (CSC 0.1 µg/g Pb vs FDA 20 µg/g Pb is a 200× spread on the same metal in the same product class), (b) the use of FDA’s candy Pb guideline as a proxy for lipstick (defensibility limits of cross-product extrapolation), and (c) brand-level variability within a single product class measured by GFAAS in a small-n study (per-brand mean Pb in lipsticks varies almost 6× between Brand 3 and Brand 7).

• App: This paper measures finished cosmetic products (lipstick and eye shadow) and does not change any food-ingredient contamination_profile block. If the future Heavy Metal Index app extends to a leave-on cosmetic category, the per-brand and per-color occurrence values from Tables 1 and 4 are direct inputs.

• Microbiome: Not addressed by the paper.

Related evidence

• Lead
• Cadmium
• Lip products (lipstick, gloss, lip liner, adult lip balm)
• Eye makeup (liners, shadows, mascara, brow products, false lash adhesives, lash/eyebrow serums)

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