Cosmetics & Personal Care | Monthly bulletin | January 2024

Sun protection testing: Eurofins, an ally in current and future regulations

Exposure to ultraviolet solar radiation is the main environmental source of damage to human skin. Protecting consumers from exposure to the sun's UVB and UVA rays is therefore an important issue.

In recent years, in vivo test methods have been developed to measure the extent of protection against solar UV radiation. However, for SPF determination, the development of alternative methods to in vivo testing is ongoing.

Alternative techniques are being analyzed as part of the "Alt-SPF" program run by a consortium of cosmetics firms and CROs, including Eurofins Cosmetics and Personal Care.

Further meetings of this consortium and the ISO committee are expected to lead to the registration of two of these methods (late 2024 and/or early 2025):

“Double plate in-vitro" under ISO reference DIS 23675
HDRS under ISO DIS 23698.

Initially, these methods will only be valid for SPF static. Stress tests (resistance to water, sweat, etc.) will not be included in the scope of these standards, and will be added later.

At present, for the determination of SPF static and a fortiori for tests with water resistance, the official methods remain SPF ISO24444:2019 and the FDA 2011 monograph.

However, SPF static screening tests can be carried out using the "double plate" method on conventional emulsions.

Changes are also expected in FDA methods, and it's worth keeping abreast of the current and future regulatory environment for solar testing (e.g. in South Korea).

With a team of experts actively involved in standardization on committees (e.g., the ALT-SPF Consortium, Members of ISO etc.), Eurofins is committed to staying abreast of the current and future regulatory solar testing environment.

At the crossroads of beauty and food: Testing the efficacy of nutraceuticals with Eurofins

From improving the appearance of skin, hair and nails to enhancing well-being, nutraceuticals are booming.

Claims for nutraceuticals can be very similar to those for cosmetics, but as they come in the form of tablets, gummies or ingestible drinks, they must comply with food regulations rather than cosmetics.

For example, in Europe, nutritional and health claims on foodstuffs, including food supplements, are subject to a centralised scientific assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

Eurofins is here to help you analyze the effectiveness of nutraceuticals on skin structure, hair quality and well-being:

Anti-ageing
Anti-dark circles
Moisturizing
Firming
Slimness
Anti-stress
Anti-sleeping troubles
Painkiller
Microbiome
Digestive health

These clinical approaches can be combined with a global approach to ensure safe and effective products: with regulatory and toxicological support or physicochemical analysis.

Hair loss: a must-have nutraceutical

Eurofins Cosmetics & Personal Care has observed that all active ingredient complexes tested differed significantly from the placebos. Interestingly, subjects with a higher baseline anagen (hair growth phase) rate achieved a higher anagen rate during the observation period. Considering the temporal development, the anagen rate increases from measurement time to measurement time and shows the greatest increase at the last measurement time point. However, the first positive results can be expected after three months at the earliest, whereby often only a tendency but no significance is achieved.

For the determination of hair loss, it is important to use a valid method with high acceptance by the panelists. In this context, the TrichoScale® is a validated and non-invasive tool to objectively quantify the effectiveness of a hair loss treatment in nutritional supplement studies.

Eurofins C&PC teams are used to conducting studies on health and beauty supplements. We can help you with regulatory submissions and advise you on the most appropriate approaches to meet your expectations.

Biodegradation of microplastics: Eurofins strengthens its worldwide expertise

Microplastics are everywhere on the planet. These small, solid plastic particles, made up of blends of polymers and functional additives, are more resistant to degradation. They can be formed unintentionally or deliberately, and added to products for specific purposes, which can be harmful to ecosystems and human health. It is therefore imperative to control their pollution.

In September 2023, the European Commission published Regulation (EU) no. 2023/2055 to restrict the use of microplastics on the European market. This regulation prohibits the intentional addition of synthetic polymer microparticles (microplastics) in consumer products at a concentration >0.01% (by mass).

However, exemptions have been provided, particularly, for degradable polymers according to requirements of Appendix 15. The evidence for exclusion must be made available to the authorities on request, this includes OECD test method (TG 301/ TG 310) for Ready Biodegradability. These tests determine the potential for a substance to undergo ready biodegradation under aerobic conditions, mimicking the conditions found in sewage treatment plants. The CO₂ evolution is measured regularly over the test period indicating that the polymer is degraded. The substance is considered "Readily Biodegradable" if it meets the criteria within the specified timeframe.

However, there are numerous cases where it is necessary to analyze non-biodegradable microplastics when they are added internationally to consumer products. Over the past six years, Eurofins has strategically invested in establishing a network of five laboratories (located in Norway, Hungary, Spain, the USA, and Australia), exclusively dedicated to implementing cutting-edge microplastics testing. Our laboratories are equipped with a comprehensive range of analytical techniques, including spectroscopy (Raman, FTIR, LDIR) and thermal analysis (TD-GC/MS, PYR-GC/MS), each possessing unique capabilities for the identification, quantification, sizing, and characterisation of microplastics.

While our primary focus has traditionally been on analyzing environmental matrices, in recent years, our laboratories have progressively expanded their scope to include the analysis of consumer products such as food packaging, coffee cups, teabags, as well as cosmetics and personal care products such as creams, exfoliants and shower gels. Notably, two of our laboratories have earned recognition by receiving ISO/IEC 17025 (2017) accreditation for Microplastics testing, affirming the high standards of quality and reliability in our analytical processes.

Our sales team is here to help you make decisions about the materials you use and take preventive measures against microplastic pollution, by assessing and validating the use of recycled content and providing biodegradability and disintegration tests.

What’s next?

Trade show

PCHI - 20-22 Mar

Shanghai – Stand 2M28

Learn more: https://www.eurofins.com/cosmetics/media-centre/pchi/

Webinar

ISO testing Methods

13 feb – 10.am (EST)

US audience