Research Article | OPEN ACCESS
Radiological and Toxic Risk Assessment of Nigerian Kohl as Cosmetic Compared with Imported Kohl Cosmetics
1I.Y. Zakari, 2A.M. Sadiq, 1R. Nasiru and 1U. Sadiq
1Department of Physics, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
2Department of Physics, Federal College of Education, Kano, Nigeria
Research Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology 2014 14:2970-2975
Received: September 16, 2013 | Accepted: October 04, 2013 | Published: April 12, 2014
Abstract
A total of 38 different samples of Kohl comprising of 23 indigenous mined products and 15 imported products as control and were analyzed for general elemental composition but with particular interest in those reported to be of relevance (As, Cd, Hg, Ni, Co and Sb) in cosmetics. Energy dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Analysis EDXRA was used for the assay. Only Pb, As, Ni and Cr were detected among the elements of interest. Mean Pb concentrations of 277300 ppm; Ni at 2256 ppm concentration; and As at 810 ppm which are considerably higher than their safety limits (20 ppm p<0.01) were obtained in both the indigenous and imported products. The same risk was statistically observed to be involved following the use of both local and imported kohl products. Again Pb concentrations in excess of what was claimed on the labels of the imported kohl products were observed (p<0.01), hence the need for scrutiny of imported products by the relevant agency. The high concentration of Cr (7460 ppm, p<0.05) in the imported samples signifies its presence as colorant and the need for chromium control for the brands concerned. Also the observed presence of Th in the indigenous (local) samples suggests that Nigerian products may be of radiological effect to health. Measurements were made of gross alpha and beta count of indigenous mined and imported kohl samples The results reveals that all the forms of kohl products assayed, emit both particles but with β’s count substantially higher than the α’s (p<0.5) at a mean β count 4695×10-3 cpm and α count as 283×10-3 cpm. One of the samples from Zamfara State of Nigeria (known for Pb poisoning due to mining activities) shows an exceptionally high count in both α = 8998100 cpm and β = 9315700 cpm which reveals that products from Zamfara State, need a special attention. Application of this product is therefore very much likely to produce radiation damage to the cornea due to low penetration of α and to the internal tissue of the eye due to the relatively high penetration of β s. However, the non-existence of defined safety limits for these particles in Kohl as cosmetic, suggests the need for further research.
Keywords:
EDXRF, eye, kohl, proportional counter, radiation disease, toxic elements,
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Competing interests
The authors have no competing interests.
Open Access Policy
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
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The authors have no competing interests.
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