In our study, among 73 samples, in

In our study, among 73 samples, in 3 eyelashes, 3 eye shadows, 2 lipsticks and 2 foundations of 10 samples microbial contamination was observed. In 5 samples total aerobic bacteria numbers were off the limits. Salmonella spp. and P. aeruginosa were not observed but Candida spp., S. aureus and E.coli that are not allowed to be found in cosmetics were de- termined (Table 1). After the challenge test the preservative activity of all the products was shown to be ineffective because the microbial growth was not limited with a reduction of 99.9% for 7 days.
At time zero, in 34 samples, number of C.albicans cells were be- tween 1×104-1×106. In 19 samples, C.albicans growth was not observed so 99.9% reduction was determined in 19 samples at time zero. After 3 days, in all samples growth was determined and in 12 samples, number of C.albicans cells were too numerous to count. In other samples, the number of cells were between 3.8×105 and 8×106 CFU/ml. After 7 days number of cells were 4 ×106, 2.8 ×106, 3.2 ×106 and 1 ×107 CFU/ml in EL2, EL3, EL6 and EL9 numbered samples respectively. Although num- ber of cells reduced in these samples, the reduction was not enough. Af- ter 14, 21 and 28 days in all the samples, number of C.albicans cells were too numerous to count. As a result preservative activity was determined only in 19 samples at time zero for C.albicans.
At time zero, in 17 samples, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 growth was not observed so 99.9% reduction was determined in 17 sam- ples at time zero. However, after 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days number of Pseu- domonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 cells were too numerous to count in all the samples. As a result preservative activity was determined only in 29 samples at time zero for Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853.
For E.coli ATCC 25922, only in 5 samples no growth was determined. In other samples numbers of cells were between 1 × 104 - 2.1 × 106 CFU/ ml at time zero. After 3 days in all the samples, number of E. coli ATCC 25922 cells were too numerous to count. After 7, 14, 21 and 28 days in all the samples number of E. coli ATCC 25922 cells were too numer- ous to count. As a result, preservative activity was determined only in 8 samples at time zero.
After 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days number of Staphylococcus aureus cells were too numerous to count. In 5 samples at time zero growth was not observed.
For all the microorganisms tested, the 99.9% reduction was deter- mined only in some samples at time zero. After the challenge test the preservative activity of all the products should be ineffective with a re- duction of 99.9% for 7 days so in the tested samples, preservative activity was not determined.
Contamination of microorganisms in cosmetics may cause spoilage of the product and when pathogenic, they represent a serious health risk for consumers
“Cosmetics are not expected to be totally free of microorganisms when first used or to remain free during consumer use,” according to a 1989 FDA report on contamination of makeup counter samples in de- partment stores. Every time one opens a bottle of foundation or case of eye shadow, microorganisms in the air have an opportunity to rush in. But adequately preserved products can kill off enough of them to keep the product safe
To control microbial growth and to stabilize any cosmetic product, some form of preservative needs to be used. However, in many cosmetics no expiry date has been reported and may loose the preservative activity and became a potential risk for microbial contamination. According to FDA data, most cases of contamination are due to manufacturers using poorly designed, ineffective preservative systems and not testing the sta- bility of the preservatives during the product’s customary shelf life and under normal use conditions
Therefore, it is important to improve the preservative system in order to inhibit the growth of contaminating microorganisms during manufac- turing, storage and use by consumers
There are several studies that have investigated some unused cos- metics products in case of microbial contamination. Altanlar has studied microbiological quality of 81 lipsticks which are unused. In 81 samples; they have found that 34 samples have been found to be contaminated and total aerobic bacteria counts were between 104-106 CFU/g. In some lipsticks microorganisms such as mold and yeast which are not allowed to be present in cosmetics were determined 11. Özdemir has investigated the creams that were prepared by Ege University Department of Chem- ical Engineering in case of microbial contamination 12. In only one of the samples Staphylococcus aureus was isolated and no other pathogen bacteria mold or yeasts were observed 12. Ergun, has studied with un- used shampoo, hand cream, hair tonic and hair cream samples and in 14 samples the total aerobic bacteria was determined off the limits. 3 P.aeruginosa, 2 E.coli, 2 S. aureus, 5 Bacillus subtilis, 2 Enterobacter spp. were isolated from the samples
Anar has studied 45 unused and 56 used cosmetics samples (sham- poos, creams, mascaras and lipsticks) in case of microbial contamina- tion. Frequencies of bacterial and fungal contamination were 53.47% and 35.64% respectively. 22 unused and 18 used cosmetic samples had pathogenic microorganisms. 12% of used cosmetics products contained more than 103 CFU/ml org 9. Campana et al. have studied 91 commer- cially available cosmetic products in order to verify the degree of possible microbiological contamination during their use by consumers. They have studied the intact product (at the time of purchase), the in-use products (after 14 days of use) and the ending product (post use). In all cases the contamination was found in ending products, while in one case it was observed in the in-use product. Also in the study, the preservative sys- tems of the two tested products were studied and they have showed long lasting antimicrobial activity
Ravita et al. have studied with post-consumer use cosmetic products in case of microbial contamination. In this study, densities of culturable aerobic microorganisms of used cosmetic products containing global (GPC) and non-global (NPC) was compared. Among the 96 samples, 28 samples did not yield culturable microorganisms. There was no signifi- cant difference between GPC and NPC samples 6. Preservative activity was not detected by a microbial challenge test in the previous study.
Hugbo et al. have studied with ten brands of commercially available cosmetic creams and lotions. After microbial investigations they have determined that all the products were contaminated to varying degrees. They came to the conclusion that the samples that they were tested did not generally meet the standards for microbial limits. In this study the investigators made a microbial challenge test for preservative activity but in the challenge test they have only used S. aureus as a bacteria and Aspergillus and Penicillum as molds. After the challenge test they have concluded that the preservatives did not possibly possess adequate pre- servative capacity
Zhang et al. has reported a study on hygienic microbe pollution for imported cosmetics during 2003-2006 and determined that 0.27% of the 4764 cosmetic samples have exceeded the maximum limits of “Hygienic Standard for Cosmetic” in China. As a result of their study they have reported that the quality of the imported cosmetics is satisfactory except sea-mud products whose microbes′ proportion exceeds the limitation se- verely
In our study, among 73 samples, in 10 samples microbial contami- nation was observed. In 5 samples total aerobic bacteria numbers were off the limits. Salmonella spp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were not observed but Candida spp., Staphylococcus aureus and E.coli that are not allowed to be founding cosmetics were determined.
After the challenge test the preservative activity of all the products was shown to be ineffective because the microbial growth was not lim- ited with a reduction of 99.9%. At time zero, in 29 samples, C. albicans growth was not observed so the growth was limited with a reduction of 99.99% but to say that the preservative is effective this reduction should continue up to 7 days 3 however after 3 days C. albicans cell numbers were increased and a reduction was not observed. In P. aeru- ginosa, at time zero, in 26 samples microbial growth was limited with a reduction of 99.9% but after 3 days the P. aeruginosa cell numbers were increased. In E. coli, at time zero, in 8 samples microbial growth was limited with a reduction of 99.9% but after 3 days the E.coli cell num- bers were also increased. At time zero, in 8 samples S. aureus growth was also limited with a reduction of 99.9% however after 3 days S. au- reus cell numbers were increased and a reduction was not observed. The samples that showed preservative activity at time zero are generally the same samples for the tested microorganisms. These results indicate that the preservatives in the studied cosmetics samples are not effective to protect the samples from microbial contamination. The low number of contaminated samples despite the inactivity of preservatives in the samples is thought to be because of the consumers hygienic conditions itself because in our study the samples were all used by one consumer for long time periods. The risk of contamination may be even greater with “testers” at retail stores, where a number of people are using the same sample product