SOFW Journal 10/17 | Volume 143 | Thannhausen, October 16, 2017

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country focus Switzerland

skin care

Eco-friendly Disinfection with Lactic Acid

Surfactants as Rheology Modifiers – Cationic Thickeners

48th IDC International Detergency Conference

regulation

home care

A Naturally Derived Polyglyceryl Ester: The Best of Both Worlds

Nanosan® Nanofibers Represent the Next Breakthrough in Anti-Pollution Treatments

Rejuvenation through Epigenetic Science

Taking Sensory from Nature

Changes to Regulations on the Handling

of Substances Hazardous to Water

Breathable Nail Polish on the Basis of a New Blend:

A Complex of Water-based Polymer and Functional Vegan Silk

colour cosmetic

Nanosan® Nanofibers Represent the Next Breakthrough in Anti-Pollution TreatmentsL. Frazier

personal care |

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anti-pollution

Introduction/Background

The effects of air quality on skin health have become a ma-jor topic over the last decade. As more and more cities face an increase in air pollutants, their residents must take pre-cautions when spending time outdoors in order to prevent the deleterious effects of pollution on their health. While the initial focus was on the inhalation of such pollutants and the potential health risks for respiratory diseases, it is now clear that the skin is also susceptible to becoming contaminated, which can lead to skin diseases, premature aging of skin, and an increase in skin pigmentation spots, as well as an overall increase in skin sensitization.Thus far, the products that have been introduced to help prevent the development of skin conditions include barrier creams, which function to inhibit the particles from being ab-sorbed by the skin, as well as skin cleansers that help remove pollutants and repair creams that assist in repairing the dam-age to the skin by adding antioxidants. Skin cleansers can remove pollutants from the surface of the skin, but cannot remove contaminant particles from the pores, hair follicles, wrinkles or furrows of the skin. In fact, the act of washing the skin with any cleanser will actually massage the particles deeper into the skin, forcing them into the hair follicles and pores where the retention time is much longer (up to 10 days).In order to truly decontaminate the skin and remove pollut-ants not just from the skin surface, but also from the pores and hair follicles, wrinkles and furrows, a completely new approach must be taken. Nanosan® polyurethane nanofibers were produced via the electrospinning process. With diame-ters in the 400-800 nm range, they are capable of performing

in ways that have not been possible with larger diameter fi-bers. The following experiments were conducted in order to determine the capabilities of polymer nanofibers in removing pollutants from the skin.

Experimental

Three different studies were conducted. For all three stud-ies, Nanosan® nanofiber material composed of polyurethane nanofibers with superabsorbent polymer entrapped through-out was used. The first in vivo study involved applying a waterproof sun-screen containing 3 % of the UV filter substance octylme-thoxycinnamate to the skin of healthy volunteers. In this case, the results were obtained using the tape stripping method. The sunscreen was applied to the forearms of healthy volun-teers and then removed by either traditional hand washing or by pressing nonwoven nanofiber mats onto the skin.The second in vivo study involved using a waterproof sun-screen that contained 0.1 % of the fluorescent dye fluores-cein for LSM (laser scanning microscopy) detection purposes. It was also applied to the forearm of healthy volunteers. In order to determine the effect of the fiber diameter, polymer fibers with differing diameters were produced. Both materi-als were produced via the electrospinning process, and both were made using the same hydrophilic polyurethane polymer; however, one had an average fiber diameter of 534 nm, while the other had an average fiber diameter of 2.5 micron. The final in vitro study attempted to remove fluorescing hy-droxyethyl starch nanocapsule contaminants with polyurethane

Nanosan® Nanofibers Represent the Next Breakthrough in Anti-Pollution TreatmentsL. Frazier

abstract

A s a result of the increasing concern over air pollution in many parts of the world, prevention of dermatological diseases has become a major topic of discussion. Products that exist on the market currently tend to focus on preventing particles from

being absorbed by the skin. A new approach to skin decontamination has been developed using Nanosan® polymer nanofibers. Employing a proprietary process for producing electrospun nanofibers, nonwoven nanofibers have been developed that can be used to remove pollutants from the skin surface including removal of substances from the pores, hair follicles, wrinkles, and furrows. Absorption and extraction of model substances from the skin as well as the capture of nanoparticles was investigated. Results from laser scanning microscopy as well as the tape stripping method confirmed that using Nanosan® polymer nanofibers is a more effective method to remove contaminants from the skin, especially from the pores and hair follicles. This novel ap-proach represents a unique method for removing harmful substances from the skin and enables new products to be developed using nanofiber technology.

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on the skin. The smaller diameter fibers were able to remove significantly more of the model substance than the larger 2.5 micron fibers. The last study yielded the most exciting results, as in this case the material being removed was closer in size to that found in actual pollution (235 nm average diameter hy-droxyethyl starch nanocapsules). This experiment also

nanofibers from exposed porcine ear skin. The results were eval-uated using LSM. In this case, it was necessary to first douse the skin with PEG-12 dimethicone in order to assist in the absorption.

Results

The results of the first study showed that the nanofibers could indeed remove contaminants from the skin much better than conventional hand washing. Fig. 1 is the horny layer profile of the skin with no decontamination at all. Fig. 2 shows the profile after the application of polyurethane nanofibers; a majority of the sunscreen was removed from the skin surface, as well as from several layers of corneocytes. Conventional handwashing, on the other hand, while it did remove some of the sunscreen from the skin surface, it mas-saged the sunscreen from 3 layers of corneocytes up to 7 layers deep (Fig. 3).The most interesting result of the second study was that the fibers with an average diameter of 534 nm worked much bet-ter in removing the sunscreen than those with an average diameter of 2.5 micron. The comparison can be seen in Fig. 4. The white areas represent sunscreen that has been left behind

personal care|anti-pollution

Fig. 2 Distribution of the model substance in the stratum corneum after decontamination with Nanosan® polyurethane nanofibers

Fig. 1 Penetration profile of the model substance into the skinFig. 3 Distribution of the model substance in the stratum corneum after decontamination with washing

Fig. 4 Decontamination of the skin using fibers with average diameters of (top) 534 nm and 2500 nm (bottom)

ø 75 µm ø 100 µm ø 125 µm

Skin Surface ø 25 µm ø 50 µm

Fiber diameter: 2500 nm

ø 75 µm ø 100 µm ø 125 µm

Skin Surface ø 25 µm ø 50 µm

Fiber diameter: 534 nm

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helped to determine that moisture is a necessary compo-nent for the nanofibers to absorb. When a dry Nanosan® polyurethane nanofiber mat was applied to dry particles, the absorption was minimal. Once a fluid was applied, in this case PEG-12 dimethicone, the nanofiber mat was able to absorb the nanocapsules along with the fluid. Fig. 5 shows the porcine skin before and after the latter decon-tamination procedure.

Conclusion

The use of hydrophilic polyurethane nanofibers (Nanosan®) for decontamination of the skin represents a new and in-novative method for cleansing the skin, including skin that has been exposed to PM 2.5 particulates, which are found in highly polluted air in cities around the world.It is critical to decontaminate the skin in order to prevent further diffusion of compounds bound to or encapsulated in noxious particulate contaminants through the stratum corneum. It is also crucial to prevent the penetration of such contaminants into vulnerable skin appendages or the circulatory system. In the first experiment, the nano-fibers showed a much greater ability to remove the sun-

screen when compared to conventional hand washing. In the second experiment, it was determined that fiber diameter had a substantial effect on the ability of the polymer fiber to remove contaminants from deep within the skin furrow and wrinkles, as well as the pores and hair follicles. This indicates that the size of the nanofibers does indeed have an effect. In the final experiment, when the porcine skin was doused with PEG-12 dimethicone followed by an application of nanofibers, the dye-labelled nanocapsules were almost completely removed, demon-strating the nanofibers have immense potential for skin decontamination.

References

[1] Lademann J, Patzelt A, Schanzer S, Richter H, Gross I, Menting KH, Frazier L,

Sterry W, Antoniou C: Decontamination of the Skin with Absorbing Materials.

Skin Pharmacol Physiol 2011; 24:87-92.

[2] Lademann J, Patzelt A, Schanzer S, Richter H, Gross I, Menting KH, Frazier L,

Sterry W, Antoniou C: In vivo laser scanning microscopic investigation of the

decontamination of hazardous substances from the human skin. Laser Phys

Lett 2010;7:884-888.

[3] Lademann J, Richter H, Baier G, Landfester K, Frazier L, Gefeller H, Wunderlich

U, Gross I, Ruehl E, Knorr F: Deconamination of skin exposed to nanocarri-

ers using absorbent textile material and PEG-12 dimethicone. Laser Phys Lett

2014; 11:115603(4pp).

Fig. 5 Porcine skin contaminated with HES nanocapsules detected as white areas (left) and after decontamination using nanofibers and PEG-12 dimethicone (right)

contact

Dr. Laura Frazier

SNS Nano Fiber Technology, LLC(Member of the Schill+Seilacher Group)

5633 Hudson ℓ Ohio 44236USA

www.snsnano.com