Mascara--an unsuspected cause of magnetic resonance imaging artifact

It is well recognised that metals, especially iron, will cause artifacts in magnetic resonance (MR) images. Hitherto it has not been recognised that some facial cosmetics contain magnetic materials, in sufficient quantities to cause artifacts. We report a case of a 25-year-old female who had MR images of her orbits made while wearing mascara eye makeup. The resultant images showed distortion of the signal over the anterior aspect of both eyes. Examination following the removal of the eye makeup resulted in the acquisition of normal images. The typical ingredients of mascara are natural and synthetic waxes, glycerine, water, kaolin, preservatives, polymer film formers and pigments. A wide range of pigments may be used, especially iron oxide, which is a constituent of both brown and blue mascara. In addition it is likely that a number of mascaras will be contaminated with heavy metals. As a result of this observation we now ensure that all patients who are undergoing MR imaging of the head, remove all facial cosmetics as well as any jewelry prior to imaging.