In recent years, preservatives have fallen fowl of negative perception and consumer avoidance, and, as with many other ingredients, have been considered as ‘unsafe’, due to increased chemical mistrust. However, this ‘chemical scepticism’ is not based upon the regulatory or scientific realities including the essential role preservation plays in product safety. Let’s talk about preservation in cosmetics.
Reasons for Preservation in Cosmetics
Preservation is not unique to cosmetics. For example, foodstuffs are commonly preserved, and may use the same preservatives also approved for cosmetics; some of which are approved for certified natural and organic cosmetics.
Certain cosmetics, like those with high water content or that expose a large amount of the product, like cream jars, can be more susceptible to microbial contamination. Preservation helps to adequately prolong both the shelf-life, and the use of the product once opened by inhibiting or reducing the development of microorganisms. This is important since microorganisms may not only directly harm consumers’ health but also impact the product consistency and stability, and so ultimately its safety.
Preservation helps to adequately prolong both the shelf-life, and the use of the product once opened by inhibiting or reducing the development of microorganisms
Overall, often through a variety of methods, preservation helps to avoid spoilage, ensure safety, support sustainability and reduce waste.
Safe by Law
EU law requires that all cosmetic products and their ingredients, whether natural and conventional, must be safe for human health, and demonstrate this safety, including their microbiological stability. Annex V to the EU Cosmetics Regulation lists all the permitted preservatives, their maximum concentration levels in ready for use preparations, and if the substance cannot be used in specific product categories (e.g., oral care). Preservatives are regulated based upon a positive assessment by the independent risk assessment body of the EU Commission, the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS). Outside the EU, legislation will vary, although a number of countries and territories increasingly look to changes in EU law and mirror them in their own cosmetics legislation.
EU law requires that all cosmetic products and their ingredients, whether natural and conventional, must be safe for human health
Preservation Methods
Cosmetic product preservation can be achieved in various ways:
- Adding a preservative: by law these are substances that are added to cosmetic products to “exclusively or mainly intended to inhibit the development of microorganisms“. These substances can be made from petrochemical or natural origin, and can include reproductions of naturally-occurring substances. Preservatives can be chosen based on factors such as product category, formulation, and compatibility within the formula. A single preservative may either inhibit growth over a broad spectrum or against various microorganisms or a number of preservatives may be needed in combination.
- The product packaging can provide a preservation function by reducing (re)exposure of the formulation to the external environment, as in single-use or closed systems (e.g., an airless dispenser).
- The properties of the formulation itself, for instance: some ingredients have an impact on the preservation of the complex cosmetic mixture through a well-balanced formulation; contributions from the pH value of the formulation (acidity or alkalinity – an alkaline, traditional bar soap); water exclusion ([body] oils); high content of alcohol (fine fragrances).
What preservatives are approved for natural and organic cosmetics?
In terms of private, voluntary standards for natural and organic cosmetics (e.g., NATRUE) only a small selection of the substances listed on Annex V to the EU Cosmetics Regulation are approved. Safe use of these additives is according to the restrictions laid down in law.
Taking NATRUE as an example, permitted preservatives can be classified as either nature-identical or derived natural. A full list is available on Annex 4 to the NATRUE standard. Nature-identical substances refer to laboratory reproductions of naturally occurring substances that may only be used when natural substances cannot be recovered from nature using reasonable technical effort. Derived natural substances refer to natural substances that have been chemically converted using a set of permitted reactions.
Examples of some permitted preservatives for in natural cosmetics may include:
- Benzyl alcohol: an organic alcohol that can be found in some plant essential oils; notably jasmine flower oil.
- Dehydroacetic acid: found in nature in the flowers of Solandra nitida and Solandra grandiflora.
- Sodium Benzoate: the salt of Benzoic acid, occurs naturally in teas and some fruits such as apples, cranberries, prunes, and plums.
- Sorbic acid, and its salt potassium sorbate, can naturally be found in some fruits (like the berries of mountain ash).
- Other preservatives often used in natural cosmetics include salicylic acid (found in meadowsweet, senna leaves and in camomile blossom), formic acid (found in insects used for protection by beetles and other articulates, and in stinging nettles and fir needles), or Ethyl Lauroyl Arginate HCl, a food preservative that is made up from a reaction between ethanol, a plant fatty acid (lauric acid) and a natural amino acid (arginine).
Claims: “Free-from”
Following a rise in so-called “free-from” product claims on the EU market in July 2019 a non-legally binding Technical Document, which supports existing EU legislation on the Common Criteria for Cosmetic Product Claims, was released. To-date this has been implemented in various EU Member States in order to assist claims enforcement. Within this document there are a number of illustrative examples of ‘free from’ claims associated with preservatives, including ‘free from parabens‘, and when these may be considered misleading claims. Specifically, the document highlights that the ‘free from preservatives‘ claim should not be used when a product contains (an) ingredient(s) showing a protective effect against microorganisms, which are not included in Annex V to the EU Cosmetics Regulation.
Fostering innovation is key, and trends in preservation technology aim to reduce the microbiological susceptibility of the product
Status quo and future
The cosmetic industry is continuously searching for new compounds able to limit the growth of microorganisms. However, of the current 53 substances on Annex V, a combination of a pattern of disuse, societal perception, regulatory delisting, reduced thresholds for safe use and challenges in regulatory approval for new substances, have all contributed to a continuously shrinking of the formulator’s palette. Consequently, formulators are looking for new alternatives and new methods.
Fostering innovation is key, and trends in preservation technology aim to reduce the microbiological susceptibility of the product, and consequently reduce the risk of contamination, by successfully pairing combinations of contributing factors, from pH to packaging, to improve efficacy. of the conservation system, prolong shelf life, and increase the period of use for the consumer. For natural and organic cosmetics this is likely to involve the further development of development of natural or derived preservatives produced in-line with the principles of green chemistry to account for environmental sustainability in order to meet industry needs and consumer expectations.
Author: Mark Smith, Director of NATRUE. Article published on INFARMA 2022 special edition.
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