Shetland Seaweed For Safer Hair Dyes And Cosmetics
Scientists have launched a project to make hair dye out of seaweed from around the Shetland Islands.
Scientists at the University of Leeds are planning to extract chemical compounds from different species of seaweed and use them to develop a new range of hair dyes. The naturally sourced compounds will be used by scientists as substitutes for synthetic ingredients that can be found in most hair dyes currently on the market.
Many compounds in existing products are allergens and certain chemicals, notably p-phenylenediamine (PPD), have been linked to more serious long-term health effects.
The project also hopes to develop other safer and more environmentally friendly cosmetics, including hair treatments and skin care, from the compounds extracted from the Shetland seaweed.
“We are hoping to be able to offer people a real alternative to current hair dyes that contain chemicals which are known to be very bad for you,” explains project leader Dr Richard Blackburn, a natural products researcher at The University of Leeds.
The good news is that the new hair dyes won’t be green – scientists are confident that a range of colours including blonde, brown and red, and even black, can be made using the seaweed extracts. Read more
Giving Soybean Oil A New Role Health And Beauty
Scientists have reported development of a new method for converting soybean oil into a highly effective bio-based sunscreen active ingredient that does not carry the potential health concerns of ingredients in some existing sunscreens. The new, natural sunscreen agent could replace petroleum-derived ingredients in a variety of personal-care products, they reported at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) being held here this week.
It was among more than 12,000 scientific reports scheduled for presentation at the meeting, one of the largest scientific gatherings of 2010.
Joseph Laszlo, Ph.D., who headed the research, pointed out that sales of sunscreens and other skin-care products that protect against the damaging effects of ultraviolet (UV) light have been booming. Driving the multi-billion-dollar-per-year market are consumers who are better informed about the link between overexposure to the sun and skin cancer and sunlight’s effects in giving skin an aged appearance. At the same time, however, concerns have arisen over certain ingredients in today’s mainstay sunscreens. “One, for instance, is a substance known as oxybenzone that is a suspected hormone disruptor that could contribute to the disruption of aquatic species reproduction.”
“We’re trying to provide nature-inspired skin-care materials that avoid such health concerns and at the same time have fewer adverse environmental impacts,” Laszlo said. He is with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service in Peoria, Ill. Sunscreens are among the substances, termed “pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs),” that constitute a relatively new family of water contaminants with potential adverse health effects on wildlife and people. Read more