Regulations have made it increasingly important for manufacturers of cosmetics to routinely monitor and test the elemental compositions of their products for consumer safety. Residues of heavy metals in cosmetics can present a dangerous level of toxicity. Sources of contamination can be derived from basic ingredients, color additives, or from processing. It is important to analyze ingredients and finished products carefully to determine critical trace element contamination.
Controls should be performed on the basis of defined test methods and energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) spectrometry has proven itself a useful analytical technique for process control. ED-XRF is fast and precise with relatively simple sample preparation. It’s also easy to use and is, a preferred analytical choice at-line and in the lab to determine the content of additives as well as active ingredients.
This report presents examples for the analysis of color additives in cosmetics and of the active ingredient selenium disulfide in shampoo, an antifungal agent. Test results are reported using a next generation SPECTRO XEPOS ED-XRF spectrometer.