Consumption of cosmetic products by the French population. First part: Frequency data

The aim of this study was to assess the percentage of users, the frequency of use and the number of cosmetic products consumed at home by the French population. The evaluation was performed for adult, child and baby consumers. Pregnant women were also taken into account in this work. All in all, 141 products cosmetics including general hygiene, skin care, hair care, hair styling, make-up, fragrances, solar, shaving and depilatory products were studied. The strengths of the study were the separation of data by sex and by age groups, the consideration of a priori at risk subpopulations and the consideration of a large number of cosmetic products. These current consumption data could be useful for safety assessors and for safety agencies in order to protect the general population and these at risk subpopulations.     

Exposure method development for risk assessment to cosmetic products using a standard composition

In a risk assessment of cosmetic products, it is necessary to know both qualitative and quantitative compositions. Currently, European Regulation No. 1223/2009 requires the industries to provide ingredient lists for finished cosmetic products but not their concentrations. Ingredient concentrations are available in few bibliographic references but in an incomplete and approximate way.In this study, we propose a method to qualitatively and quantitatively estimate the composition of a cosmetic product. This method has the advantages of being applicable to all cosmetic products and supplying concentration data for all ingredients. The results obtained seem quite fair compared to literature data. Applied to nail polish as an example, this method can be used to assess exposure per ingredient according to the Monte Carlo probabilistic method. It should be promising to assess the consumer risk to cosmetic product compositions.     

Exposure data for cosmetic products: lipstick, body lotion, and face cream.

Accurate exposure information for cosmetic products and ingredients is needed in order to conduct safety assessments. Essential information includes both the amount of cosmetic product applied, and the frequency of use. To obtain current data, a study to assess consumer use practices was undertaken. The study included three widely used cosmetic product types: lipstick, body lotion, and face cream. Three hundred and sixty women, ages 19-65 years, who regularly use the products of interest, were recruited at ten different geographical locations within the US. The number of recruits was chosen to ensure a minimum of 300 completes per product type. Subjects were provided with prototype test products, and kept diaries and recorded detailed daily usage information over a two week period. Products were weighed at the start and completion of the study in order to determine the total amount of product used. Statistical analysis of the data was conducted to derive summary distribution of use patterns. The mean and median usage per application, respectively, for the three products was: face cream, 1.22 g and 0.84 g; lipstick, 10 mg and 5 mg; and body lotion, 4.42 g and 3.45 g. The mean and median usage per day for the three products was: face cream, 2.05 g and 1.53 g; lipstick, 24 mg and 13 mg; and body lotion, 8.70 g and 7.63 g. The mean number of applications per day for face cream and lipstick was 1.77 and 2.35, respectively. For body lotion, the mean number of applications per day was dependent on body area, and was 2.12, 1.52, 1.11, 0.95, 0.43, 0.26, and 0.40 for hands, arms, legs, feet, neck and throat, back, and other body areas, respectively. The effect of product preference on use practices was also investigated. This study provides current cosmetic exposure information for commonly used products which will be useful for risk assessment purposes.     

Exposure data for cosmetic products: Facial cleanser,hair conditioner,and eye shadow

Reliable exposure information for cosmetic and other personal care products and ingredients is needed in order to conduct safety assessments. Essential information includes both the amount of product applied, and the frequency of use. To obtain current data, a study to assess consumer use practices was undertaken. Three widely used types of cosmetic products – facial cleanser, hair conditioner, and eye shadow – were included in the study. Three hundred and sixty women, ages 18–69 years, who regularly use the products of interest, were recruited nationwide within the US. Subjects were provided with a new container of the brand of product they normally use and kept diaries and recorded detailed daily usage information over a two week period. Products were weighed at the start and completion of the study in order to determine the total amount of product used. Statistical analyses of the data were conducted to derive summary distributions of use patterns. The mean and median usage per application, respectively, for the three product types were: facial cleanser, 2.57 g and 2.11 g; hair conditioner, 13.13 g and 10.21 g; and eye shadow, 0.03 g and 0.009 g. The mean and median usage per day for the three product types was: facial cleanser, 4.06 g and 3.25 g; hair conditioner, 13.77 g and 10.62 g; and eye shadow, 0.04 g and 0.010 g. The mean number of applications per day for facial cleanser, hair conditioner, and eye shadow was 1.6, 1.1, and 1.2, respectively. This study provides an estimate of current exposure information for commonly used products which will be useful for risk assessment purposes.     

European consumer exposure to cosmetic products, a framework for conducting population exposure assessments.

Access to reliable exposure data is essential to evaluate the toxicological safety of ingredients in cosmetic products. This study was carried out by European cosmetic manufacturers acting within the trade association Colipa, with the aim to construct a probabilistic European population model of exposure. The study updates, in distribution form, the current exposure data on daily quantities of six cosmetic products. Data were collected using a combination of market information databases and a controlled product use study. In total 44,100 households and 18,057 individual consumers in five European countries provided data using their own products. All product use occasions were recorded, including those outside of home. The raw data were analysed using Monte Carlo simulation and a European Statistical Population Model of exposure was constructed. A significant finding was an inverse correlation between frequency of product use and quantity used per application for body lotion, facial moisturiser, toothpaste and shampoo. Thus it is not appropriate to calculate daily exposure to these products by multiplying the maximum frequency value by the maximum quantity per event value. The results largely confirm the exposure parameters currently used by the cosmetic industry. Design of this study could serve as a model for future assessments of population exposure to chemicals in products other than cosmetics.     

European consumer exposure to cosmetic products, a framework for conducting population exposure assessments Part 2

Access to reliable exposure data is essential for the evaluation of the toxicological safety of ingredients in cosmetic products. This study complements the data set obtained previously (Part 1) and published in 2007 by the European cosmetic industry acting within COLIPA. It provides, in distribution form, exposure data on daily quantities of five cosmetic product types: hair styling, hand cream, liquid foundation, mouthwash and shower gel. In total 80,000 households and 14,413 individual consumers in five European countries provided information using their own products. The raw data were analysed using Monte Carlo simulation and a European Statistical Population Model of exposure was constructed. A significant finding was an inverse correlation between the frequency of product use and the quantity used per application recorded for mouthwash and shower gel. The combined results of Part 1 (7 product types) and Part 2 (5 products) reported here, bring up to date and largely confirm the current exposure parameters concerning some 95% of the estimated daily exposure to cosmetics use in the EU. The design of this study, with its relation to demographic and individual diversity, could serve as a model for studies of populations’ exposure to other consumer products.     

纸片协同法检测产金属酶的铜绿假单胞菌

目的探讨纸片协同法筛查产金属酶铜绿假单胞菌在临床应用中的实用性。方法采用EDTA-Na2和2-巯基丙酸纸片琼脂扩散法来检测金属酶。结果64株亚胺培南或头孢他啶耐药的铜绿假单胞菌共检出产金属酶9株,阳性率为14.1%。结论纸片协同扩散法是一种简便、敏感的检测产金属酶铜绿假单胞菌的方法,可用于临床常规检测。     

Hyphenated NMR methods in natural products research, part 1: direct hyphenation

This review describes the current status of the development of techniques combining liquid chromatography and nuclear magnetic resonance and their use in the context of natural products. HPLC-NMR methods have a rapidly growing impact on natural products research by enabling structure determination of natural products directly from small amounts of extracts, i. e., prior to the investment in an often lengthy and laborious preparative-scale isolation process. This speeds up extract dereplication and helps to avoid re-isolation of already known extract constituents. Direct HPLC-NMR hyphenation techniques, defined as methods in which NMR spectra are recorded using the HPLC eluate, are described. The recently developed indirect HPLC-NMR method employing an automated solid-phase extraction interface between HPLC and NMR, which replaces the chromatographic solvent with a different solvent for NMR data acquisition, is described in the second part of this review.     

The tail suspension test: A new method for screening antidepressants in mice

A novel test procedure for antidepressants was designed in which a mouse is suspended by the tail from a lever, the movements of the animal being recorded. The total duration of the test (6 min) can be divided into periods of agitation and immobility. Several psychotropic drugs were studied: amphetamine, amttriptyline, atropine, desipramine, mianserin, nomifensine and viloxazine. Antidepressant drugs decrease the duration of immobility, as do psychostimulants and atropine. If coupled with measurement of locomotor activity in different conditions, the test can separate the locomotor stimulant doses from antidepressant doses. Diazepam increases the duration of immobility.The main advantages of this procedure are (1) the use of a simple, objective test situation, (2) the concordance of the results with the validated behavioral despair test from Porsolt and, (3) the sensitivity to a wide range of drug doses.     

Otoacoustic emissions: a new method for newborn hearing screening

Pediatric deafness is a handicap affecting approximately 2/1000 newborns. Currently, its diagnosis is markedly delayed, since it occurs approximately at 24 to 36 months of age; at this age rehabilitation procedures (i.e., acoustic prosthesis, speech therapy, psychological interventions on the family, or cochlear implants in the most serious situations) are unable to ensure a complete development of both the voice and the speech, thus preventing the full participation of the deaf child in social living. The turning point has taken place when methods and techniques were developed; they are aimed at the very early diagnosis of infantile deafness and are based on the recordings of otoacoustic emissions, that is, acoustic signals of extremely weak intensity originating in the inner ear, which not only is a passive transducer, but is able to generate sounds also. Any lack of or any change in otoacoustic emissions is a accurate index of disabling deafness. The test under study allows to perform selectively a mass screening on newborns (it is carried out 2 or 3 days after birth) since it is definetely non-invasive, it is done very rapidly (a few seconds only), it is cost-effective and higly reliable. The newborn hearing screening is being accepted, at a faster growing pace, by an increasing number of health systems in the whole world.     

The dorsomedial hypothalamus and the response to stress: part renaissance, part revolution

Emotional stress provokes a stereotyped pattern of autonomic and endocrine changes that is highly conserved across diverse mammalian species. Nearly 50 years ago, a specific region of the hypothalamus, the hypothalamic defense area, was defined by the discovery that electrical stimulation in this area evoked changes that replicated this pattern. Attention later shifted to the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) owing to (1) elucidation of its role as the final common pathway mediating activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, a defining feature of the stress response and (2) the finding that the PVN was the principal location of hypothalamic neurons that project directly to spinal autonomic regions. Consequently, a primary role for the PVN as the hypothalamic center integrating the autonomic and endocrine response to stress was inferred. However, our findings indicate that neurons in the nearby dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH)--a region originally included in the hypothalamic defense area--and not in the PVN play a key role in the cardiovascular changes associated with emotional or exteroceptive stress. Indeed, excitation of neurons in the parvocellular PVN and consequent recruitment of the HPA axis that occurs in exteroceptive stress is also signaled from the DMH. Thus, the DMH may represent a higher order hypothalamic center responsible for integrating autonomic, endocrine and even behavioral responses to emotional stress.     

Establishment of a new in vitro test method for evaluation of eye irritancy using a reconstructed human corneal epithelial model,LabCyte CORNEA-MODEL

Finding in vitro eye irritation testing alternatives to animal testing such as the Draize eye test, which uses rabbits, is essential from the standpoint of animal welfare. It has been developed a reconstructed human corneal epithelial model, the LabCyte CORNEA-MODEL, which has a representative corneal epithelium-like structure. Protocol optimization (pre-validation study) was examined in order to establish a new alternative method for eye irritancy evaluation with this model. From the results of the optimization experiments, the application periods for chemicals were set at 1 min for liquid chemicals or 24 h for solid chemicals, and the post-exposure incubation periods were set at 24 h for liquids or zero for solids. If the viability was less than 50%, the chemical was judged to be an eye irritant. Sixty-one chemicals were applied in the optimized protocol using the LabCyte CORNEA-MODEL and these results were evaluated in correlation with in vivo results. The predictions of the optimized LabCyte CORNEA-MODEL eye irritation test methods were highly correlated with in vivo eye irritation (sensitivity 100%, specificity 80.0%, and accuracy 91.8%). These results suggest that the LabCyte CORNEA-MODEL eye irritation test could be useful as an alternative method to the Draize eye test.     

Tracheal phenol red secretion,a new method for screening mucosecretolytic compounds

A simple method for screening drugs that influence tracheobronchial secretion has been described. After i.p. application of a phenol red solution, part of the dye is secreted into the tracheal lumen. This basal secretion is increased by both parasympathomimetics and sympathomimetics. In addition, expectorants are also capable of increasing tracheal phenol red output. Therefore this method is suitable for the study of drugs that may be capable of influencing tracheobronchial secretion.     

The human epidermis models EpiSkin, SkinEthic and EpiDerm: an evaluation of morphology and their suitability for testing phototoxicity, irritancy, corrosivity, and substance transport.

The commercially available reconstructed human epidermis models EpiSkin, SkinEthic and EpiDerm demonstrate reasonable similarities to the native human tissue in terms of morphology, lipid composition and biochemical markers. These models have been identified as useful tools for the testing of phototoxicity, corrosivity and irritancy, and test protocols have been developed for such applications. For acceptance of these tests by the authorities, prevalidation or validation studies are currently in progress. Furthermore, first results also indicate their suitability for transport experiments of drugs and other xenobiotics across skin. Still, however, the barrier function of these reconstructed human epidermis models appears to be much less developed compared to native skin. Further adaptation of the models to the human epidermis, especially concerning the barrier function, therefore remains an important challenge in this area of research.