S121 Original article doi: 10.1016/S2222-1808(15)60872-6 ©2015 by the Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Disease. All rights reserved. Demonstration of in vitro antibacterial activity of the popular cosmetics items used by the Dhaka locality Tanzia Akon, Kamal Kanta Das, Luthfun Naher Nitu, Rashed Noor * Department of Microbiology, Stamford University Bangladesh, 51 Siddeswari Road, Dhaka 1217, Bangladesh Asian Pac J Trop Dis 2015; 5(Suppl 1): S121-S126 Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Disease journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apjtd *Corresponding author: Dr. Rashed Noor, Associate Professor & Chairman, Ph.D., Post Doc. (Molecular Biology), Department of Microbiology, Stamford University Bangladesh, 51 Siddeswari Road, Dhaka-1217, Bangladesh. Tel: +880 2 8355626, ext. 472 Fax: +880 2 9143531 E-mail: noor.rashed@yahoo.com 1. Introduction Pharmaceutical finished products especially in the developing countries encounter microbial contamination due to certain discrepancies during manufacturing and packaging stages followed by problems in the storage conditions[1-5]. Cosmetic products, which are not significantly different from those of pharmaceutical medicaments regarding the manufacturing process or storage fashion during sales, may also undergo contamination by a range of microorganisms[6-10]. Indeed, besides the pharmaceutical health care medicinal products, the cosmetic items have also long been reported to be prone to microbial attack including bacteria and fungi[11-14]. Like the pharmaceutical products or the preservatives, the microbiological quality of the cosmetic items has also been restricted by the acceptable limits of microorganisms (for non-eye area < 10 3 CFU/g and for eye area < 10 2 CFU/g) recommended by the regulatory bodies including the British Pharmacopeia or the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), Food and Drug Administration ( FDA), etc. [6,15,16] . Exceeding the recommended microbial bioburden in the consumer health care, cosmetic products may result in several types of disease complications including scabies, acne, eczema, dyschromia and others upon the topical application[15- 19]. Therefore, consistent and reliable microbiological quality monitoring of the available cosmetic items are required to ensure not only the consumer safety but also the overall public health[6,20]. Our recent study regarding the common cosmetic items revealed a huge contamination by the heterotrophic bacteria, fungi, and ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Objective: To demonstrate the antibacterial activity of cosmetic products commonly used by the community of Dhaka metropolis. Methods: A total of 10 categories of cosmetic samples (with a subtotal of 30 brands) were subjected to microbiological analysis through conventional culture and biochemical tests. Agar well diffusion method was used to determine the antibacterial trait in the tested samples which was further confirmed by the minimum inhibitory concentration method. Results: All samples were found to be populated with bacteria and fungi up to 10 5 CFU/ g and 10 3 CFU/g, respectively. Growth of Staphylococcus spp., Pseudomonas spp. and Klebsiella spp. was recorded as well. Conversely, 7 out of 30 items were found to exhibit the in vitro antibacterial activity against an array of laboratory test bacterial species including Staphylococcus spp., E. coli, Bacillus spp., Pseudomonas spp., Klebsiella spp. and Listeria spp. Consequently, all the samples showed antibacterial activity below the concentration of 0.46 mg/mL as found in the minimum inhibitory concentration test. Conclusions: Overall, the presence of huge microbial population in cosmetic products is not acceptable from the point microbiological contamination level. The antibacterial trait of these items, in contrary, may draw an overall public health impact. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Article history: Received 16 Oct 2014 Received in revised form 27 Oct 2014, 2nd revised form 6 Jan 2015 Accepted 16 Jan 2015 Available online 3 Jun 2015 Keywords: Cosmetics Bacteria Fungi Antibacterial activity Public health