The interactions between packaging and formulations are still, and again, a major topic! Which exchanges between these intertwined components can be looked for? What is released by one of them, absorbed by another? What are the consequences of the potential damage done to any of them? Right, the packaging/contents interactions are at the heart of many concerns, especially since they have been fingered out in regulatory documents, as in the Article 17 and the Annex I of the new Regulation. This was the topic of the paper given by Benoît Persin (Intertek) during the 26th Breakfast Meetings - Cosmetics.
Every month, Sylvain-Romain Cotte (SRC Consulting) organizes these breakfast meetings for professionals. The menu: viennoiserie … and specialists, to lecture about the main current topics of the cosmetic world. One of the most often talked about is the interaction between packaging (primary and secondary) and contents (the products.)
An inevitable, high- impact reaction
Benoît Persin, the Intertek Technical Manager of the analysis Department, began by explaining the problem: packaging/contents interactions are due to physical and chemical exchanges when products and packaging come into contact.
Several phenomena can occur:
• adsorption: molecules from the product “stick” to the surface of the packaging,
• absorption: molecules from the product spread in the entire packaging material,
• permeation: the materials of the packaging, more or less porous, allow for exchanges between the product and the environment,
• release: molecules that are parts of the packaging, or left on the packaging, are found in the finished product.
These reactions may occur any time during the contact packaging/contents: during manufacturing (especially if performed at high temperatures), during packaging and, obviously, throughout storage time, in the manufacturer facilities or in the consumer bathroom.
Many factors are involved:
• The chemical formula of the different materials of the packaging, …
