Health risk assessment of heavy metals in cosmetic products sold in Iran: the Monte Carlo simulation

Cosmetics can contain harmful compounds such as heavy metals. Several metals have a cumulative effect on the body, especially fatty tissues, and may have different health effects on the human body over the long term. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to assess the health risks of heavy metals in cosmetics in Iran. Also, in this study, Monte Carlo simulation was used to investigate uncertainties. In this study, heavy metals data of cosmetics were extracted from studies carried out at intervals 2010–2018. International and Iranian databases such as Google Scholar, Web of Science, Springer, Science Direct, PubMed, Scopus, Irandoc, Magiran, Scientific Information Database (SID), and Information Institute for Scientific (ISC) were searched for this purpose. In this study, the index of the Margin of Safety was calculated to determine the risk of human contact with metallic impurities in cosmetic products used by humans. In the selected period, 11 studies were conducted on the measurement of heavy metals in cosmetics in Iran. In these studies, cosmetics such as eye shadow, eye pencil, powder, cream, and lipstick were studied. The Margin of Safety (MoS) values calculated for different metals were higher than the established safe standard by WHO. The highest and lowest amount of systemic exposure dosage in all types of cosmetic investigated (lipstick, cream, eye pencil, face powder, and eye shadow) was related to Fe and Hg. The mean hazardous quotient (HQ) for Cd, Cr, Ni, Cu, Mn, Zn, Pb, and Hg was 1.05E-03, 1.03E-01, 7.95E-03, 2.59E-03, 1.05E-03, 4.98E-03, 7.22E-04, 1.85E-01, and 1.35E-05, respectively. The highest HQ (6.10E-01) was found for Pb, which was observed in the cream.