SCC Annual Meeting Provides Insights for the Future

By: Katie Anderson (Schaefer), Cosmetics & Toiletries magazine

Posted: January 6, 2012

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The last presentation of the morning was a recording by Robert Lochhead, PhD, from the University of Southern Mississippi, who was not able to attend the event due to illness. He reviewed his work on the development of makeup to protect soldiers from skin damage caused by road-side bombs. As he previously described at the 2010 IFSCC Congress in Buenos Aires, conventional pigments (i.e., 100–500 nm) were too small to reflect radiation from the flame spectrum; specialized heat reflective pigments were therefore employed. Further, military standards require the inclusion of 35% DEET. The team thus encapsulated DEET in a hydrogel and incorporated it into a silicone-in-water emulsion to create a product that protects the wearer from the flame spectrum.

Awards luncheon: During the Theresa Cesario Awards Luncheon, renowned dermatologist Howard Maibach, MD, was presented the Maison G. DeNavarre Medal Award for his cosmetic safety research and for his major influence in the study of percutaneous absorption and moisturization. Manuel Gamez-Garcia, PhD, was given the Shaw Mudge Award, sponsored by BASF Corp., for his paper on setting or activating properties of hair with heat. Steven Jones received the Allan B. Black Award, sponsored by Presperse, for his paper on optics of effect materials. Isabelle Imbert, PhD, accepted the Hans Schaeffer Award, sponsored by Lonza Personal Care, on behalf of her co-authors, for the paper on Clock and SIRT-1 in chromatin remodeling.

Miyuki Miyaki was given the Joseph P. Caudelli Award, sponsored by Croda Inc., for a paper on a cationic polymer-anionic surfactant complex P, which was co-authored by Y. Kakazawa. And for a paper on cationic cassia polymers in shampoos, Carole Lepilleur, PhD, accepted the Des Goddard Award, sponsored by Lonza Personal Care, on behalf of her co-authors. Wrapping up the awards ceremony, Giorgio Dell’Acqua, PhD, was presented the Society of Cosmetic Chemists Award, sponsored by the HallStar Company, for his paper on reducing UV-induced skin erythema and TEWL.

Hand health and hygiene: After the luncheon, while Session B featured hair testing topics, Session C focused on hand health and hygiene. Gert Nilsson, PhD, from Linkoping University, initiated the session with a discussion of his work using polarization spectroscopy imaging to assess erythema and blanching in skin care product testing.

Randy Wickett, PhD, of the University of Cincinnati, followed with a presentation on hand skin health in health care workers, specifically addressing irritant contact dermatitis (ICD). Wickett noted that hand washing could save one million lives each year. “A major reason for noncompliance is that [workers’] hands are already irritated,” said Wickett, who explained that this is because they wash their hands nearly 180 times a day. He found that erythema grades were high during both spring and winter although it is present year-round, and that excessive erythema occurred around the knuckles. Wickett studied the effects of intensive treatment involving the application of lotion 10 times a day. He observed that while it worked, it took quite some time to apply and added, “Who wants to apply lotion 10 times a day?” His team concluded that TNF-alpha polymorphism played some role in ICD.