A study of the chemical composition of traditional eye cosmetics ("kohls") used in Qatar and Yemen.

This study looks at the chemical composition of traditional eye cosmetics ("kohls") used in Qatar and Yemen. Of especial interest was how many samples in each country contain the toxic element lead. In Qatar 19 observably different kohl samples were obtained, and in Yemen ten such samples obtained. The analytical techniques of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) were used to study the samples. For the samples from Qatar, six of the 19 (32%) contained galena (lead sulfide, PbS)--all as the main component. However, for the samples from Yemen, five of the ten (50%) samples contained galena as the main component, with another three having it present as a minor component. Overall, the other main components were found to be: amorphous carbon (3), iron oxides (hematite, Fe2O3; and goethite, FeO(OH)) (1), quartz (SiO2) (1), sassolite (H3BO3) (5), talc (Mg3Si4O10(OH)2) (1), and zincite (ZnO) (7).