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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