Malaysian
Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 24 No 5
(2020): 670 - 681
DETERMINATION
OF SELECTED HEAVY METAL CONCENTRATIONS IN UNREGISTERED FACE
WHITENING CREAMS SOLD IN JOHOR BAHRU, JOHOR, MALAYSIA BY USING INDUCTIVELY
COUPLED PLASMA OPTICAL EMISSION SPECTROSCOPY AND THEIR HEALTH RISK
ASSESSMENT
(Penentuan Kepekatan Logam
Berat Terpilih dalam Krim Pemutih Muka yang Tidak Berdaftar Dijual di Johor
Bahru, Johor, Malaysia dengan Menggunakan Spektrofotometer Pancaran Optik Plasma
Gandingan Aruhan dan Penilaian Risiko Kesihatan)
Anusia Selvaraju1, Anis Nur Shasha Abdul Halim1,
Aemi Syazwani Abdul Keyon1,2*
1Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science
2Centre for Sustainable Nanomaterials, Ibnu Sina Institute for Scientific
and Industrial Research
Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia, 81310 UTM, Johor Bahru Johor, Malaysia
*Corresponding
author: aemi@kimia.fs.utm.my
Received: 25 June 2020;
Accepted: 5 August 2020; Published: 12 October 2020
Abstract
This study determined
the concentrations of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb) in
unregistered face whitening creams that are commonly accessible in Johor
Bahru (Johor, Malaysia) local markets. Three separate brands (marked as Brand
X, Brand Y and Brand Z) of unregistered face whitening creams were chosen. Each
brand was purchased with five replicates. A total of 15 samples were purchased
from five different locations. Microwave digestion process was used to digest
the heavy metals out from the cream matrices, and later analysed by using
inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) method.
Results showed slightly higher Hg concentrations in Brand X (6.5 ppm), whereas
Pb concentration in the whitening creams were below the acceptable limit
(ranged 0.1–0.4 ppm) as set by the Malaysia National Pharmaceutical
Regulation Act (NPRA). Nevertheless, the Pb concentration exceeded the limit
set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for daily use, which is 0.05 ppm.
Besides, As and Cd were not detected significantly in all brands. Health risk
assessment for all samples identified with heavy metals, in consideration of
the excessive mercury concentration and based on HRI results, could not ignore
the fact that Brand X holds possible harmful effects on human health, following
its use.
Keywords: face
whitening creams, heavy metals, mercury, microwave digestion, inductively
coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy
Abstrak
Kajian ini menentukan
kepekatan arsenik (As), kadmium (Cd), merkuri (Hg) dan plumbum (Pb) dalam krim
pemutihan wajah yang tidak dikawal selia yang biasanya dapat diakses di pasaran
tempatan wilayah Johor Bahru. Tiga jenama berasingan (bertanda X, Y dan Z)
krim pemutihan wajah yang tidak didaftarkan telah dipilih. Setiap jenama dibeli
dengan lima replikat. Sebanyak 15 sampel telah dibeli dari lima lokasi
berbeza. Proses penghadaman gelombang mikro digunakan untuk mencerna logam
berat dari matriks krim dan kemudian dianalisis menggunakan kaedah spektrofotometer
pancaran optik plasma gandingan aruhan (ICP-OES). Hasil menunjukkan
kepekatan merkuri pada jenama 'X' ialah sedikit lebih tinggi (6,5 ppm),
manakala kepekatan plumbum dalam krim pemutihan berada di bawah had (berjulat
0.1–0.4 ppm) yang dapat diterima seperti yang ditetapkan oleh Akta Peraturan
Farmasi Nasional (NPRA). Walau bagaimanapun, kepekatan Hg melebihi
had yang ditetapkan oleh Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia (WHO) untuk kegunaan
harian iaitu 0.05 ppm. Selain itu, As dan Cd tidak dapat dikesan secara
signifikan dalam ketiga-tiga jenama. Penilaian risiko kesihatan untuk
semua sampel yang dikenal pasti dengan logam berat melalui penimbangan
kepekatan merkuri berlebihan dan berdasarkan hasil HRI tidak dapat diabaikan
hakikat bahawa Jenama 'X' mempunyai kemungkinan kesan berbahaya terhadap
kesihatan manusia berikutan penggunaan produk tersebut.
Kata kunci: krim pemutihan wajah yang
tidak dikawal selia, penghadaman gelombang, logam berat, spektrofotometer
pancaran optik plasma gandingan aruhan
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