With the increasing demand and requirements for cosmetics, the safety of cosmetics has become one of the most concerned issues among consumers. In recent years, incidents of poisoning caused by the use of cosmetics with excessive harmful elements have occurred frequently, especially poisoning incidents caused by excessive lead and mercury elements in whitening products and cosmetics, and the victims are mostly women. Excessive lead and mercury levels can cause skin redness and swelling, leading to skin problems such as melasma and butterfly spots, and even causing oral erosion and damage to organs such as the kidneys. Nowadays, there are a wide variety of cosmetics on the market, which not only expands the range of choices for consumers, but also presents them with various confusions.

Therefore, China's national standard "Hygienic Standards for Cosmetics" (standard number: GB7916-87) has already stipulated the use standards for harmful elements: lead (Pb) content cannot exceed 40 ppm, mercury (Hg) content cannot exceed 1 ppm, and arsenic (As) content cannot exceed 10 ppm. The "Cosmetic Safety Technical Specification" implemented in 2015 adjusted the limit of lead content to 10 ppm, arsenic content to 2 ppm, and added a limit of cadmium content to 5 ppm (as shown in the figure).

However, under the national policy, there are still unscrupulous merchants who produce and sell substandard products, lack legal awareness, and harbor a sense of luck. Some international brands even have individual products with harmful elements exceeding the standard exposed. Therefore, relevant regulatory authorities should increase their supervision of cosmetics, especially by conducting stricter and more targeted quality testing and management of lead and mercury exceeding standards, in order to better protect the health and safety of consumers and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.

　　Analysis methods for cosmetics

The laboratory methods specified for different elements in the "Cosmetic Safety Technical Specification" (2015 edition) include cold atomic absorption spectrometry, hydride atomic fluorescence spectrometry, flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry, etc. If you want to obtain analysis results quickly, easily, and accurately, X-ray fluorescence analysis is also a good choice.

A handheld X-ray analyzer is an instrument used to detect the content of chemical elements in consumer goods, electronic products, soil, minerals, metals, and other substances. Capable of detecting dozens of elements from magnesium (Mg) to uranium (U) in the periodic table, including lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, etc., which are restricted in consumer product inspections. The detection element content ranges from ppm to 100%.

　　Examples of Cosmetics Testing

Use our analyzer to test 4 types of low-priced cosmetics purchased online and 4 types of branded cosmetics. During testing, the instrument can be fixed and directly tested. All samples were placed in a sample cup covered with polypropylene film (PP film) as shown in the figure.

1. Online shopping for cheap cosmetics testing

Sample preparation

Test results

Use the "Hygienic Standards for Cosmetics" (standard number: GB7916-87) and the "Safety Technical Specifications for Cosmetics" (2007 edition)

2. Brand cosmetics testing

Sample preparation

Test results

*Use the "Hygienic Standards for Cosmetics" (standard number: GB7916-87) and the "Safety Technical Specifications for Cosmetics" (2007 edition)

By analyzing the data, it can be seen that the harmful elements in online shopping cosmetics freckle removal creams are severely exceeded, and the content of elements such as zinc (Zn) and bismuth (Bi) is also high. The element content of brand cosmetics basically meets the national standard, except that the lead content in liquid foundation is slightly higher than the national standard, and the bromine content in face cream is also high.

(We need to add laboratory results for comparison here to demonstrate the accuracy and credibility of our testing results. At the same time, we need to select a more suitable mode for testing through comparison. The data from the soil mode in the experiment differs significantly from the other two modes.)

Through this testing example, it can be seen that using a handheld X-ray analyzer can conveniently and quickly detect the elemental content in cosmetics. This analyzer can be used as an effective tool for cosmetics quality screening, and combined with laboratory methods, it can further analyze and confirm important samples after screening, which can greatly improve the work efficiency and reduce costs of cosmetics quality supervision departments.