title: Mercury content in marketed cosmetics: analytical survey in Shijiazhuang, China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mercury is one of the skin-lightening ingredients in cosmetics as mercury ions are thought to inhibit the synthesis of the skin pigment melanin in melanocyte cells.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to evaluate the mercury levels of cosmetics currently marketed in Shijiazhuang, a northern city in China.
  
  
  METHODS
  We collected 146 random cosmetic samples and analyzed for mercury concentrations or levels by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 146 samples, 134 (91.8%) were positive for mercury, and the concentrations of mercury ranged from not detectable to 592 ng/g. Cosmetic samples for children and babies had the highest detection rate (100%), followed by shampoo and hair conditioner (92.3%) and skin-lightening cream (92.0%). All of them were lower than the acceptable limit (1 μg/g) in China.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cosmetics for skin had the highest mean mercury content (45 ng/g), followed by hair products (42.1 ng/g). The concentrations of mercury detected in samples were lower than the current legal limit in China, indicating it may not pose a risk to consumers.
authors.affiliation: a Shijiazhuang Center for Disease Prevention and Control , Shijiazhuang , HeBei , China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: a Shijiazhuang Center for Disease Prevention and Control , Shijiazhuang , HeBei , China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D002947:Cities; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D003358:Cosmetics / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000592:standards*; D057230:Limit of Detection; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D011786:Quality Control; D011897:Random Allocation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic
chemical_list: D003358:Cosmetics; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Cosmetics; hair products mercury; skin-lightening creams