Status of cosmetic safety in Malaysia market: Mercury contamination in selected skin whitening products

Abstract

Background Concern on cosmetic safety has been a subject of interest in recent years and is commonly associated with the exposure of the consumers to chemicals and impurities such as mercury contamination. Moreover, cancellations of notified cosmetic products were recurrently being reported by the Malaysia authority, namely the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Authority (NPRA). Among the cosmetic categories was skin whitening product, which is still in high demand whilst reported to cause health risks. Besides, low number of studies on cosmetic safety and mercury contamination were recorded in Malaysia. The lack of scientific evidence on the safety and risks of the ingredients used in cosmetic formulation is a major concern to many consumers. Objective The aim of this study was to identify the presence of mercury in skin whitening products, and to identify products containing mercury with the concentration exceeding the limitation of 1 ppm. Methodology A total of 104 whitening products were selected from the market via random sampling technique. The mercury concentration was determined by accredited laboratory, and the results were later compared with the cosmetic guideline of Malaysia and the list of banned products issued by NPRA. Results A total of 51.9% (n = 54) whitening products were found registered under the NPRA Quest system and remaining 48.1% (n = 50) were non‐registered products. None of the whitening products listed mercury as an ingredient, but laboratory analysis showed 15.4% (n = 16) of the products contained mercury with the concentration exceeding the maximum limit of 1 ppm. A total of 87.5% of the whitening products (14 out of 16) containing high mercury concentration were non‐registered products which were not registered in NPRA Quest system. The exceeded concentration recorded ranged between 1.81 ppm and 838 123 ppm. Besides that, 50% (8 out of 16) of the products were found in the list of banned products issued by the NPRA of Malaysia. Conclusions This study presents the status of cosmetic products, particularly the skin whitening products available in Malaysia market. Concern arises when some of the products were found to have presence of harmful substances such as mercury. Even though the presence of mercury in a cosmetic product can either be non‐intentional or intentionally used by the manufacturer in the cosmetic formulation, the impact of the ingredient can cause health risk to the users.

Health Determinants of Methylmercury Exposure in Coastal Pakistani Women: Fish Consumption and Environmental Influences

“…Our findings are consistent with the studies conducted in Pakistan [16][17][18] and other countries. 19,20 Additionally, those who consumed fish caught from waters near industrial areas had an elevated MeHg level of 3.5 µg/g, highlighting the importance of monitoring MeHg levels in seafood from such regions. This finding is consistent with the results of a study that found individuals who consume fish from these areas may have elevated levels of MeHg in their scalp hair.…”

Attitude on Customer Purchase Intention Towards Adulterant Cosmetic Products in Malaysia

“…Is it due to the highly effective ingredients in the product or the presence of contaminants? A cosmetic product is said to be adulterated when it contains heavy metals such as mercury (Pramanik et al, 2021;Wan Mohamed Radzi & Nordin, 2022) or substances listed as Scheduled Poisons such as hydroquinone, tretinoin, antibiotics or steroids. Adulterants are added to a cosmetic product to show that it is effective for its intended purpose.…”