Microbiological quality of hair and skin care cosmetics manufactured in Jordan

A total of 57 brands of commercially available hair and skin care cosmetics manufactured in Jordan were evaluated for their microbiological quality using standard procedures. Viable microorganisms were not recovered from 56.1% of the items tested and approximately 5.3% harbored less than 10(2) CFU g(-1). Dominant bacterial isolates were Bacillus species, Pseudomonas spp., and coagulase-negative staphylococci. Further testing of different batches of the brands that were found to be contaminated with >10(4) CFU g(-1) revealed that the problem was persistent in these products. Preservative efficacy tests were carried out for the contamination-free brands using Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027. This test demonstrated that 28.1% of the products tested were inadequately preserved. It is concluded that poor microbiological quality of the preparations investigated can be attributed to either a problem inherent in the formulation of these brands and/or poor manufacturing hygiene. It is hoped that the implementation of good manufacturing practice in the Jordan's cosmetics industry will improve the microbiological quality of these products. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.