safety levels of titanium dioxide in selected commercial cosmetics

Abstract

Cosmetics are an important part of our lives. They contain a wide variety of products that are used in face and body care to improve or change someone's appearance. One of the most important ingredients of cosmetics is titanium dioxide. Titanium dioxide is useful in sunscreen as it has impressive UV resistance and helps block the sun's UVA and UVB rays from reaching your skin. Exposure to heightened levels of titanium dioxide can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat. The substance may also have the potential for causing reproductive damage in humans. However, the concentration of titanium dioxide in most cosmetics in Uganda is not known. This study aimed at determining the levels of titanium dioxide in selected commercial cosmetics on the Ugandan market. Six different cosmetics products were purchased from different stores, samples were prepared and their absorbances were measured using UV Vis spectrophotometric method. Using MS Excel, a calibration curve of absorbance Vs concentration of standard solutions of Ti (IV) was obtained and the equation of the curve was used to determine concentration of titanium dioxide in the cosmetics samples and their respective absorbances. Sample A had a concentration of 0.359μg mL-1, sample B had 52.494μg mL-1, sample C had -0.426μg mL-1, sample D had 33.393 μg mL-1, sample E had -0.089μg mL-1, sample F had 3.617μg mL-1. The accepted maximum concentration of titanium dioxide in cosmetics is 25% which is 25 in 100g of cosmetics. Based on the results, samples A, C, E and F contain acceptable concentrations of titanium dioxide while samples D and B contain high concentrations of titanium dioxide.