Cosmetics have come to stay as part of products we use daily. With its usage also comes the undesirable threat of effects of heavy metals, which may be present in these products in levels exceeding the permissible on the human body. It is undeniable that at certain tolerated limits, some heavy metals could be of biological importance to humans. However, others (like As, Pb, Cd) have been reported to have no known bio-importance and can be very toxic when consumed even at very low concentrations. The nature of the effects could be toxic (acute, chronic or subchronic), neurotoxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic or teratogenic.

In Indonesia the presence of heavy metals in cosmetics regulate in PerBPOM No.12 of 2019 for Hg, Pb, As Cd Heavy metals are 1, 20, 5, and 5 mg/kg respectively for all cosmetic products.

How SIG can help

SIG Laboratory is an accredited laboratory according to ISO IEC 17025:2017. We can perform heavy metal analysis on a wide variety of cosmetics. We also ascertain whether the heavy metal in cosmetics are at the appropriate levels, as specified by national and international regulations. In other words, that your product is suitable and safe for use by loyal consumers of your cosmetic products

The types of heavy metals that can be tested in the SIG laboratory are:

• Lead (Pb)
• Cadmium (Cd)
• Mercury (Hg)
• Arsen (As)

Method of Analysis

ICP-OES and ICP-MS techniques are the most frequently used for heavy metals analysis in cosmetics.