Quantitative Assessment of Banned Corticosteroids in Cosmetic Creams in Lagos Metropolis

Background: Cosmetic creams are widely used for good causes. They however pose dangers when they contain banned corticosteroids. As part of its control measures and its effort on public safety, NAFDAC banned the sale of cosmetic creams containing betamethasone dipropionate (BD) and clobetasol propionate (CP). Objective: The objective of this study is to ascertain if cosmetic cream products containing BD and CP are still on sale . Method: Twelve most popular brands of each of the two types of cosmetic creams were randomly purchased from retail pharmacy outlets in different parts of Lagos metropolis. The products were evaluated by HPLC assay methods of the British Pharmacopoeia (BP) for the two Corticosteroids. Results: All samples did not have NAFDAC registration number; this confirms their registration status. The BD and CP cosmetic creams had active contents of 66-108% and 91-191% respectively. Conclusion: The results demonstrates that despite the ban on cosmetic creams containing BD and CP, there is a plethora of these products being sold to the public. Pharmacists have a major role to play in the sanitization process by ensuring that only products with NAFDAC registration number are stocked and sold to the public. Current surveillance and enforcement efforts of the regulatory agency should be sustained to ensure compliance with regulations on banned corticosteroids in cosmetic creams. Keywords: Cosmetic creams, Banned corticosteroids, NAFDACNQJHM Vol. 16 (3) 2006: pp. 85-8