Eye shadow cosmetic products are used daily by millions of individuals around the world. Because heavy metals are naturally occurring and present in the environment, they can work their way into raw materials and thus show up in extremely small quantities in cosmetic products such as eye shadow. Exposure to heavy metals has been linked to various health concerns; therefore, if eye shadows contain significant amount of heavy metals consumers must be informed. Since eye shadow products vary in price, it could be assumed that the more expensive the eye shadow the more pure it is from heavy metals. Within this study, two different priced eye shadows will be tested for chromium, lead, and nickel. In order to test for the heavy metals, the eye shadows will be digested in strong acid and then analyzed through the Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES).

Investigation of toxic metals in over-the-counter eye shadow makeup

249th National Meeting (2015)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.