Overview
This International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health paper reports a 2023 safety monitoring program conducted by the Voivodeship Sanitary and Epidemiology Station in Rzeszow, Poland, covering 40 natural, eco-labeled, or reduced-preservative cosmetic products. The monitored substances were mercury, formaldehyde, and silver(I) nitrate, plus microbiological counts. All sampled products met European regulatory limits. Mercury concentrations were very low, in the range 0.0000001 to 0.0000002% (approximately 1 to 2 µg/kg), well below the EU limit of 1 µg/g (1 mg/kg) for non-eye-area cosmetics and 0.007% for eye-area products. The paper provides regulatory compliance context for the EU natural cosmetics market; it does not provide occurrence data for children’s makeup and does not constitute direct evidence for the Children's Makeup (ages 0-5) page.
Key numbers
All mercury concentrations reported as percentages in the source. Units are percent (w/w) in the following tables.
Mercury in eye-area products (Table 3; AAS with amalgamation, DMA-80)
The source reports total mercury. LOD not stated in text; the method (DMA-80, amalgamation AAS) typically achieves sub-nanogram per gram sensitivity.
| Product type | Hg concentration (%) | Hg concentration (approx. µg/g) |
|---|---|---|
| Eye shadow palette, most colours (a-h) | less than 0.0000001 | less than 0.001 |
| Eye shadow palette, colour 9 (i) | 0.0000002 plus or minus 0.00000003 | approx. 0.002 |
| Eye cream I | less than 0.0000001 | less than 0.001 |
| Eye cream II | less than 0.0000001 | less than 0.001 |
| Eye cream III | less than 0.0000001 | less than 0.001 |
| Mascara I | less than 0.0000001 | less than 0.001 |
| Mascara II | less than 0.0000001 | less than 0.001 |
The abstract states the overall mercury range was 0.0000001 plus or minus 0.00000001% to 0.0000002 plus or minus 0.00000003%.
Silver nitrate in eye products (Table 4)
Six eye products (four eyebrow or eyelash henna products, two mascaras) all showed silver nitrate (AgNO3) below 1.57%, the maximum permitted concentration under EU Cosmetics Regulation 1223/2009 Annex III entry 15.
Formaldehyde
All skin and hair cleansing products showed formaldehyde below 0.005% (the LOQ of the method used); results were acceptable under the transitional provisions of EU Cosmetics Regulation 1223/2009 as applied in 2023.
Microbiological counts
Total aerobic mesophilic organisms below 10 CFU/g in all products. Staphylococcus aureus not detected.
Regulatory context cited by the source
EU Cosmetics Regulation 1223/2009 Annex II (prohibited substances): mercury and its compounds prohibited except as preservative in eye-area products at maximum 0.007% (70 µg/g) with certain conditions. The products tested were all below detectable levels for practical purposes. Formaldehyde subject to Annex V (preservatives); maximum 0.001% threshold for labeling obligation.
Methods (brief)
Sample collection. 40 natural or eco-labeled cosmetics sampled in Podkarpackie Province, Poland in 2023 under the State Sanitary Inspectorate’s internal guidelines.
Mercury. Atomic absorption spectrometry with amalgamation; DMA-80 mercury analyser (Milestone S.r.l., Sorisole, Italy). Operates by thermal decomposition of the sample and amalgamation onto a gold trap, with subsequent thermal desorption and AAS detection.
Silver content. SOLAAR M6 MK2 spectrophotometer (Thermo Electron Corporation), result converted to AgNO3 content.
Formaldehyde. UV-1601 spectrophotometer (Shimadzu Corporation).
Microbiological. PN-EN ISO 21149 and PN-EN ISO 16212 methods.
Implications
Certification. Regulatory compliance data for natural cosmetics on the Polish/EU market. All products met applicable EU limits for mercury. The mercury data are in the sub-ppb range and do not contribute occurrence values to any HMTc product category beyond confirming that EU-market natural cosmetics are well below mercury action levels. No occurrence signal for lead, cadmium, chromium, or nickel; this paper does not test those metals.
Courses. Useful for illustrating how the EU State Sanitary Inspectorate conducts cosmetic safety monitoring, the distinction between mercury prohibited except in eye-area and the low concentrations actually found, and the method selection rationale for different contaminants in complex matrices.
Related evidence
- Mercury
- Eye makeup (liners, shadows, mascara, brow products, false lash adhesives, lash/eyebrow serums)
- Face/neck leave-on skin care (moisturizers, serums, night creams, leave-on masks)
- regulations/eu-1223-2009-cosmetics-regulation
Update history
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