ASSESSMENT OF HYDROQUINONE IN SKIN WHITENING FORMULATIONS

Abstract

Exposure of hydroquinone (HQ) through the skin whitening cream may cause serious skin allergic problems. The use of hydroquinone in cosmetic is banned in many European countries however, its use in developing countries is still common as depigmenting agents. This study was conducted to estimate the concentration of hydroquinone in twenty different cosmetic products by using UV-visible spectrophotometer. The method showed excellent linearity (0.9998) in the concentration range of 0.5 to 50 µg/mL. The results showed that 6 out of 20 samples (30%) contained detectable levels of hydroquinone in the range of 0.08% to 0.92 % w/w with mean concentration 0.36 % w/w. None of the sample exceeded the permissible limit of 2% w/w. These findings highlight significance of regular monitoring of cosmetics products to protect public health.