Assessment of alpha radioactivity in lipstick, nailpolish, toothpaste and vermilion using CR-39 detector.

ABSTRACT

Human beings are always exposed to radiation from chemical cosmetics. In order to collect information regarding the radioactivity of chemical cosmetics used in our daily life, we studied the alpha radioactivity in different cosmetics samples, such as lipsticks, nail-polish, toothpaste and vermilion. The significant accumulation ofradionuclide in and on the tissues, directly or indirectly exposed due to the lipsticks, toothpaste, vermilion, may cause health hazards. Different samples of these cosmetic materials (Indian and foreign brands) were collected from the local markets of Kolkata, India. CR-39--a useful solid state nuclear track detector (SSNTD) was used to detect alpha radioactivity of these samples. Such exhaustive measurement of radioactivity in lipsticks, nail-polish, toothpaste and vermilion has not been reported so far.