Medicina Comunitária e Educação em Saúde

Abstrato

Consumer Awareness of Health Risks of Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium,and Lead Present in Cosmetic and Personal Care Products in Dubai

Naseem Mohammed Abdulla, Samer Hamidi, Mustafa Z Younis and Jai Parkash

Objectives: This study aimed to (i) identify the categories of cosmetic and personal care products (PCPs) and the relevant tests for each category, (ii) identify arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and lead in these products, and (iii) measure the level of awareness among the employees’ of Dubai Municipality (DM) about the associated risks in these products. Methods: Primary data were collected through administering a questionnaire to 1500 DM employees at 10 health related departments of DM. Secondary data to identify the categories of cosmetic and PCPs and associated risks were collected from the product databases available at consumer products safety section at DM. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 16. Results: The cosmetic and PCPs containing (i) cadmium and chromium posed the highest public health risk, and (ii) arsenic posed the lowest health risk. The cosmetic and PCPs originating from (i) Taiwan and Egypt posed the highest health risk, and (ii) Tunisia and France posed the lowest risk. Conclusions: The understanding level of the consumers on certain physical aspects of consumer products was acceptable.