Health Risk Assessment of Mercury in Cosmetics

The main objective of this paper was to determine the mercury content within cosmetics and to assess the risk of intoxication with this heavy metal due to their use. We want to draw consumers' attention to the amount of mercury they are being daily exposed by using various cosmetics. A number of 7 sunscreens SPF 50+ for body and face samples from different manufacturers were selected from stores and pharmacies. The Advanced Mercury Analyzer 254 mercury analyzer with a detection limit of 0.00001 mg mercury was used to determine the mercury concentration. Our results indicate that sunscreens could be responsible for 30% from the alert level of the mercury. Even if this value does not seem high enough, we estimated that over the course of a year cosmetic products may account for up to 45% of the required level for side effects become manifest. This is especially worrisome if we consider that the human body is already being exposed to a significant amount of mercury in the food consumed daily. Based on this conclusion, in the future, it must be established whether the accumulation of mercury resulting from the multiple use of cosmetics can reach high potentially toxic levels.