SAFETY ASSESSMENT OF SELECTED BRANDS OF TOOTHPASTE IN ZARIA, KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

 Toothpaste is a personal hygiene product used on daily basis by many. The chemical composition of toothpaste varies from one brand to another and even among several presentation of the same brand. The manufactures do not inform the consumers of the composition of toothpastes in detail. This work sought to evaluate the safety level of some chemical constituents and the microbial load of selected toothpastes.Ten different brands of toothpastes were analyzedfor physicochemical properties, bacterial load, fluoride, heavy metal levels including titanium concentrations using Standard methods. The pH of these toothpastes was found to range from 5.20 to 8.42. Only 60% of the sampled toothpastes fell within the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC) recommended pH range of 6.5 to 7.5. The moisture and volatile constituents of the toothpastes were between 28.03% and 46.19%, which are within the range set by NAFDAC. The fluoride concentration of the sampled toothpastes ranged from 770± 13.46ppm to 1220 ±5.00ppm. None of the toothpastes fluoride level was above the maximum limit of 1500 ppm set by NAFDAC. However, three were found to be below the minimum set value of 850 ppm. The results from the microbial load of the toothpastes showed that they were all sterile as no bacterial or fungal isolates were identified in any of the sampled toothpastes. Traces of titanium metals were found in all the sampled toothpastes ranging from 1.44×103 mg/kg to 6.25×103 mg/g. Traces of Cd, Mn, Ni, Cu and Zn were detected in the toothpaste samples. Lead was below detection limit in all the sampled toothpastes. The presence of Ni, Mn, Cd, Cu and Zn calls for caution in the usage of these products as they accumulated in the body and could build up to the risk level.