Detection of Steroids in Topical Fairness Preparations Using Histamine Wheal Test

Abstract

Topical corticosteroid (TC) abuse is a common, worldwide, problem. One of the recent emerging concerns is the adulteration of TC in fairness cream. The presence of TC in skin-whitening cosmetic creams can be detected by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Since HPLC is expensive, time-taking and not easily available, we suggest the use of histamine wheal test as a simple and inexpensive test to detect the presence of topical steroids in fairness cream.

Keywords

• adulteration
• fairness creams
• histamine wheal test
• skin prick test
• steroids