Biodegradable Chelating Agents to Gain the “Green” Advantage

By: Matthew Giles, PhD, Octel Performance Chemicals

Posted: August 31, 2005, from the September 2005 issue of Cosmetics & Toiletries.

The personal care industry is constantly evolving, developing new ways to bring more products to market and offering the consumer an increasing assortment of benefits. Most of these benefits are intended to offer consumers new attributes to improve personal well-being. But increasingly, there is an underlying and undeniably justified movement by both the consumer and society to ensure that products are also ethical.

Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of issues involved in product testing and fair trade, as well as how various products impact the environment. For products that eventually find their way into our water systems, consumers, lobbyists and public bodies are becoming increasingly concerned.

Chelating agents are ingredients that often appear in personal care formulations and they are now coming under the spotlight. They are rarely used in large volumes, but cumulatively, given their wide use, they are a potential source of environmental damage. At the moment there are few drivers for change, but global regulatory action may not be far away. However, companies that wish to improve the ethical/environmental appeal of their products are looking at how they can stock their formulations with more environmentally acceptable alternative materials.

This is only an excerpt of the full article that appeared in Cosmetics & Toiletries, but you can purchase the full-text version.