30 ANTI-POLLUTION
Anti-pollution benefits of multi-tasking esterquats
Fernanda Teodoro – Stepan Personal Care ABSTRACT
Consumer concerns regarding air pollution have escalated in the last year, with nearly half of global consumers (36%) surveyed by Mintel citing air quality as a top three environmental concern.1
Pollutants from exhaust fumes and
industrial emissions, among others, have been linked to premature ageing of the skin and hair, along with other skin conditions like acne, eczema and hives. Pollutants can pass through skin cell
membranes similarly to breathing in polluted air, meaning similar levels of pollutants enter our body through the skin as much as breathing in emissions.2
Once in the skin, pollutants can cause
premature ageing by inducing oxidative stress through the production of reactive oxygen species and/or free radicals. These decrease the body’s antioxidant levels and degrade collagen fibres, which result in the weakening of the skin barrier. Pollution also attacks the skin’s structure,
causing inflammation and increasing the production of matrix metalloproteinases, enzymes responsible for catalyzing the breakdown of extracellular matrix proteins that are very important for maintaining the skin’s structure. In hair, exposure to pollution can lead to excess sebum on the scalp, and the absorption of pollutants by the hair reduces its shine and moisture. Although consumers’ environmental priorities
have shifted more towards pollution and climate change, their behaviors towards sustainability — integrating personal, daily actions to protect the environment, for example — remain.
PERSONAL CARE November 2022
Stepan Personal Care recognised these needs and saw an opportunity to develop modern hair conditioning agents that not only offer anti-pollution benefits, but also meet sustainability and performance expectations.
High-performing esterquat that protects skin and hair Stepan’s Stepanquat Helia (Esterquat 1) and Stepanquat Soleil (Esterquat 2) are patent- pending, sunflower oil-based esterquats comprising 95% and 100% cationic and emollient actives, respectively. Stepan chose to focus on developing these
‘next generation’ esterquats that performed similarly or better than traditional cationic hair conditioning agents because esterquats are known to be readily biodegradable, mild and less toxic to aquatic life. The resulting products not only met
performance benchmarks and sustainability criteria, but Stepan’s most recent study on these ingredients revealed their anti-pollution capabilities as well.
Skin test Stepan conducted an in vivo study with these two esterquats to assess their potential to protect against pollution by comparing how easily skin can be cleansed of environmental pollutants. The test compared untouched skin (Control), skin that had a commercial lotion (Standard) applied to it, skin with lotion containing esterquat 1 (Subject A) and skin with
Pollution is an external stressor that can lead to premature ageing for skin and hair, and consumers looking for preventative skin and hair care products are boosting the demand for anti-pollution ingredients. Stepan Personal Care initiated laboratory testing for its two novel skin and hair conditioning esterquats to see if they could provide anti-pollution properties. Test results showed Stepanquat® Helia and Stepanquat Soleil can build a film on the skin and hair that then protected them against the adhesion of polluting microparticles. In addition to this protective film, both conditioning agents provide excellent hair conditioning performance and sensorial benefits for skin, improving spreadability and imparting a velvety skin feel. Formulators would be able to leverage all of these properties to create multi-tasking hair and skin care products with anti-pollution benefits.
lotion containing esterquat 2 (Subject B). After the lotions were absorbed by the
skin, controlled, reproducible dirt containing oily materials such as those typically found on the skin, as well as particulate material that simulates environmental pollution, were applied to the Control, Standard, Subject A and Subject B. The synthetic dirt was applied on the skin and allowed to dry. A
at a rate of 3 mg/cm2
baseline assessment of the initial degree of dirt on the skin was then performed, based on an analysis of microscopic images of the skin obtained with 30X magnification (Figure 1). The synthetic dirt was then removed using
cotton pads soaked with one millilitre of water that was spread out on the site three times in the same direction, maintaining constant pressure and speed. After the dirt was removed, new microscopic
images of the skin were taken to assess the effectiveness of the products. Effectiveness was determined in terms of the percentage of the initial dirt removed from the skin. Figure 1 shows the skin that were treated with
the lotions containing Stepan esterquats had a much higher percentage of dirt removed, 93.6% for Subject A and 96.9% for Subject B, compared
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