Microbial Contamination of Cosmetics and Personal Care Items in Egypt—body Lotions and Talcum Powders

Abstract

We examined a total of 54 samples, including 18 body lotions and 36 talcum powders, for their total aerobic bacterial, coliform and fungal counts. We also carried out anaerobic bacterial counts for talcum powder as well as tests to detect some potentially hazardous bacteria in all tested samples. Talcum powders were more heavily contaminated with bacteria and fungi than body lotions. More than 40% of the tested body lotions contained no viable bacteria or less than 100 c.f.u./g. while all the talcum powders tested contained more than 100 c.f.u./g. Thirty per cent of the talcum powders were contaminated with 10(4) c.f.u./g. and none of the body lotions were contaminated to that extent. No coliforms were recovered from any of the body lotions, while 17% of the talcum powder examined contained coliforms in the range of 230-500 c.f.u./g. Staphylococcus spp. were detected in 18 samples of both talcum powders and body lotions, three of these Staphylococci were of the aureus type. Three samples of talcum powder contained E. coli, two samples contained Enterobacter agglomerans and one sample contained Citrobacter freundii. Seventy per cent of the body lotions showed no fungal counts, while 83% of the talcum powders examined were contaminated with fungi and most of the contaminated talcum powders contained more than 100 fungal cells/g. With regard to the anaerobic bacterial counts for talcum powders, 50% of the samples showed no counts while the other 50% contained less than 100 c.f.u./g. Four samples were contaminated with Clostridium perfringens, although C. tetani was not recovered from any of the samples.

Detection and Identification of Clostridium Perfringens in Some Locally Oral Pharmaceutical Samples

“…Our results vivid that six C. perfringens were detected among 30 contaminated pharmaceuticals with four different brands this was consistent with a study done by Ashour et al (1989) on 36 of talcum powder examined for anaerobic bacteria and they mentioned that the count of more than 100 CFU/g was not obtained from any product examined in the survey. However, qualitative tests for the presence of Clostridium spp.…”

Survey of micro‐organisms associated with spoilage of cosmetic creams manufactured in South Africa

“…This species has been implicated in spoilage of mascara in two other studies [16,361. Its presence in cosmetic creams has been difficult to ascertain as a number of authors refer to 'yeasts and moulds' in general terms without identifying the organisms [4,22]. Cundidu ulbicuns could not be isolated in this study even though Durant and Higdon [37], described it as an important organism associated with spoiled creams.…”

Contamination versus preservation of cosmetics: a review on legislation, usage, infections, and contact allergy

“…Studies performed in developing countries and countries without legislation on microbiological quality of finished products, GMP demands, or sufficient control show that between 30% and 100% of the cosmetic products purchased in stores or at markets are contaminated, and many products are highly contaminated (1000 CFU/g). Potential human pathogenic micro‐organisms were found in all studies (47–52). The general conclusion in these studies is that legislation and control is needed in order to reduce the marketing of contaminated cosmetics.…”