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Environment

Needed: Safe Preservatives

September 1, 2014 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 92, Issue 35

“Widening War over Preservatives” describes the changing landscape of preservative use in personal care products (C&EN, June 9, page 22). The article focuses on the debate over use of synthetic (e.g., parabens) versus natural plant-based preservatives. Last year’s recall of a children’s sunscreen due to microbial contamination highlights the need for safe but effective preservatives.

One aspect of this ongoing debate not mentioned in the article is the growing understanding of the presence of active and inactive ingredients of personal care products in municipal wastewater, surface water, and aquatic organisms. Wastewater treatment plants are not designed to remove personal care products; therefore, these compounds are often discharged to the environment.

Since the early 2000s, dozens of studies have reported the presence of this unique class of chemicals in the environment. Although the effects of synthetic preservatives on human health are part of the ongoing debate the C&EN article describes, the ecological impact of many of these compounds has been established.

Relevant examples of negative environmental impacts from ingredients of personal care products have been highlighted in the literature. Chronic toxicity tests have found that triclosan demonstrates a 72-hour no-observed-effect concentration of 530 ng/L for green algae. A number of genes, including choriogenin L and vitellogenin II, were upregulated in Japanese medaka, a type of fish, at concentrations of 10-µg/L methylparaben. Benzophenones, which are used as UV filters in sunscreens, lotions, and cosmetics, have been identified as endocrine-disrupting chemicals and can affect the reproductive system of fathead minnows at concentrations of 3 µg/L. Similar impacts may manifest for natural alternatives to these synthetic preservatives.

The use of preservatives in personal care products should not be a social media issue or a chemophobia case study; however, the ecological impacts of active/inactive ingredients of personal care products should be evaluated and considered. This need is especially relevant given the ubiquitous presence of personal care products in water, sediment, and other environmental compartments.

Lee Blaney
Baltimore

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