ANTIMICROBIAL EFFICACY OF LOW LEVEL COSMETIC PRESERVATIVES
Ch. Lalitha*and P. V. V. Prasada Rao
ABSTRACT
Preservatives are used in cosmetics to inhibit the development of
microorganisms either previously existing or introduced during the
use. An ideal preservative could be one that controls the microbial
growth effectively at optimum concentration, while many preservatives
cause allergic contact dermatitis and also show other side effects when
employed on a sensitive human body. Since no single preservative
could control the proliferation of microorganisms at lower
concentrations for long period, use of a mixture of preservatives can
potentially have synergistic effects against microorganisms. One more
advantage of using a combination of preservatives is that, they can
address a wide spectrum of microorganisms. In the present study the
antimicrobial efficacy of the preservatives Phenoxyethanol (PE), Potassiumsorbate (PS),
Sorbicacid (SA), Methylparaben (MP), Propyl paraben (PP) and Sodiumbenzoate (SB) were
investigated. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC) of the preservatives singly and
in combinations against Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Pseudomonas
aeruginosa were studied. A series of challenge tests was used to explore Antimicrobial
efficacy of preservatives in certain cosmetic products to verify the effectiveness of different
combinations of preservatives.
Keywords: preservative, allergic, low level concentrations, wide spectrum, challenge tests.
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