Green Chemistry, Cosmetic Dermatology Debut in Boston

Posted: May 24, 2006

page 2 of 3

Andrew F. Alexis, M.D. (Saint Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital), discussed considerations in the treatment of ethnic skin, especially conditions such as keloid formation, follicular disorders such as razor bumps and acne. “The most common condition to treat in ethnic skin is acne,” said Alexis. He stressed the importance of collaborations between cosmetic scientists and dermatologists to find better treatments for ethnic skin.

The afternoon sessions ran concurrently and covered claims support and hair. Janusz Jachowicz, Ph.D. (International Specialty Products), moderated the claims support session, covering indentometric measurement of the skin, the use of digital photography and image analysis techniques to assess stratum corneum (SC) compromise in health care workers, nanohybrids for extraction and release of desirable attributes and for scavenging odors and toxic materials, and enhancing epidermal neuronal metabolism.

Vince Gruber, Ph.D. (Arch Personal Care), who presented on enhancing oxygen respiration in the skin, commented that “Fluorescence technology is allowing scientists to measure respiration (in the skin).” Pat Aikens (BASF) posed the question: “Does increasing the oxygen respiration in the skin increase free radicals?” To which Gruber replied, “Probably yes, it’s a law of nature.”

Moderator Colleen Rocafort (Ciba Specialty Chemicals) led the concurrent hair session, which looked into alternative dyeing processes and chemistries for hair, protecting relaxer actives by way of emulsion design, the effect of treatments on the shear modulus of the hair cortex and cuticle layer, and understanding the micro-physical and mechanical properties of hair cuticle via damage analysis.

Friday’s sessions on formulating and green chemistry were popular with attendees. The formulating session, moderated by Mark Chandler (Uniqema), investigated the effects of order of addition and interaction of polyelectrolyte-surfactant systems, a closer look at the salt curve and its link to rheology, structure and salt content in shampoos, and structure and rheology of viscoelastic micellar fluids in shampoo formulas. Srinivasa R. Raghavan, Ph.D. (University of Maryland), described a “self-assembly” approach to formulating in his well-presented talk describing “wormlike micelles.”