Microbiological profile of selected samples of "Al-Kohl" eye cosmetics in northern Jordanian provinces before and after use.

Fifty items of Al-Kohl collected from northern Jordanian provinces representing: 20 unopened ready to use samples purchased from retail outlets, 20 in-use samples obtained from ladies of different socioeconomic standards and 10 samples of the original stones (used for Al-Kohl preparation) were examined for their microbial contents. Ready to use and in-use samples were much more contaminated than the original stones. On sterility testing, more than 85% of the unused and in-use samples were contaminated with bacteria and or fungi comparing to 50% of the original stone samples. Quantitatively, 90% of the original stones contained less than 100 bacterial or fungal cells/g and the other remaining 10% were in the range of 10(2)-10(3) cfu/g either for bacterial or fungal counts. The level and distribution of the viable microbial counts in unused and in-use samples were comparable and much higher than original stones. More than 70% and 20% of those items contained more than 100 cfu/g of bacteria and fungi respectively. Among those samples 20% and 5% were heavily contaminated (contain more than 10(4) cfu/g) with bacteria and fungi respectively. Coliform bacteria in a number of 100 cfu/g or more were recovered from 10% of the unused and 20% of the in-use samples, none were recovered from original stones. The results of qualitative tests for identification of isolated microorganisms showed that 7 different species of Bacillus were found in the 50 examined samples. Approximately 50% of the examined samples contained Bacillus spp., Staphylococcus spp., Pseudomonas spp., P. vulgaris, S. marcescens were recovered from unused and in-use samples in different percentages, none from original stones, some of the detected Staphylococcus were aureus type and also one isolate of P. aeruginosa was detected in one of the in-use samples. The relationship between the detected level of microbial contamination in the tested samples with the proposed allowable international limits of contamination as well as the possible sources of contamination and the hygienic implications of using such products by the public were discussed.