The Versatility of EDTA in Cosmetics and Personal Care Products

The industrial application of EDTA> started in the early 1930s. At that time, the metal chelating properties of EDTA were used to remove calcium and magnesium salts from hard water. This chelating agent is also used in the textile industry to prevent heavy metal salts from interacting with certain dyes.

Today, Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid is used in a wide range of industries, from water treatment to soap and detergent production. This compound is also used as a highly effective metal chelator in the production of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

Another important property of Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid was discovered in the late 1950s. That is, it can greatly enhance the anticorrosion efficiency of many anticorrosive chemicals. Chemicals are used to kill Gram-negative bacteria, especially in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid is also effective against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, certain yeasts and fungi.

Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid is a 4-valent polyamino polycarboxylic acid, which is a white crystalline powder. It is slightly soluble in water, but soluble in many organic solvents such as ethanol, ether, and chloroform. It can produce 1 valent to 4 valent sodium salts. Water solubility increases in proportion to the number of substituted sodium atoms.

A metal chelation reaction occurs when one metal ion in solution combines with one molecular complex and cannot participate in the usual valence reaction. This is the case with the alkaline earth metals calcium machine magnesium in hard water and the transition metals iron, copper, and manganese.

In dilute solutions, these metal ions all produce 2-valent cations that can react with suitable anions. These metal salts can precipitate down from the solution to produce unwanted precipitates.

The metal contaminant can enter cosmetics through a variety of channels. These channels include process water, processing equipment, packaging materials, and raw materials.

Although only trace amounts of metal contaminants are present in cosmetics, they can cause many problems.

These problems include the interaction of metals with colorants, causing discoloration or complete discoloration of cosmetics. Metals interact with fragrance components, causing cosmetics to lose their fragrance. Metals interact with thickeners to alter the viscosity and rheology of cosmetics. Certain metals such as copper and iron act as autoxidation catalysts for lipids and proteins, which can bring down the quality of cosmetic products, as well as clouding, flocculation, and precipitation of clear liquid or gel products.

It is difficult to completely remove these impurities, but generally 0.05% to 0.20% integrants (e.g., EDTA) can be added to minimize the adverse effects.

Even if ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid is added, deionized water and distilled water are still needed for cosmetics.

In conclusion, the addition of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid to cosmetic preparations greatly contributes to the stability of the product. Especially when cosmetics are at risk of being contaminated with metal impurities. The addition of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid will be even more advantageous.

Many other aminocarboxylic acids have been used as integrators by cosmetic manufacturers. These include hydroxyethyl ethylenediamine triacetic acid and diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid.

As mentioned above, Ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid also has excellent antimicrobial properties and synergistic effects with other preservative compounds that can be incorporated into pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

There have been tests on the addition of EDTA alone without other prevention and decay chemicals for sterilization.

The results showed that at the concentration of 250x10-5, the efficacy of EDTA against Pseudomonas aeruginosa was 99.99%. But if the EDTA concentration drops to 100x10-6 (pH 7.4). The sterilization efficiency will then decrease to 57%~99.5%.

However, EDTA is rarely used alone. It is often used in combination with other commonly used preservatives. Other bacteria that are particularly sensitive to EDTA include E. coli, Salmonella, fecal alkali-producing rhizobacteria, achromobacter, nitrogenous bacteria, and Vibrio cholera, etc.

Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid is very good for the combination or synergistic effect of other preservatives. In particular, a preservative against Gram-negative bacteria, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This is very useful for the production of personal hygiene products.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa can be very harmful to people under certain circumstances. It has a wide distribution. Especially in water. And can survive even at lethal concentrations of traditional preservatives.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa can even live in filtered and sterilized distilled water. In addition, it can mutate in the presence of multiple preservatives to produce preservative-resistant strains.

The presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa can be extremely harmful to any manufacturer of personal hygiene products. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is particularly harmful to personal hygiene products that come into contact with the eyes. Once this bacterium enters the user's corneal epithelium, the damage to the eye can be severe or even permanent. Therefore, manufacturers of personal hygiene products must ensure that their products are free of this bacterium.

The addition of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and other broad-spectrum preservatives to personal hygiene products works well. Some authorities have suggested that the concentration of the main preservative can be reduced due to the use of traditional preservatives mixed with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid to make the antibacterial activity much higher. This minimizes the possible irritation and allergic effects of the preservative.

Ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid has higher activity against Gram-negative bacteria when mixed with other traditional preservatives than when used alone. However, EDTA cannot be used in the form of complexes. The synergistic effect of EDTA will be greatly reduced or completely lost if there are 2-valent metal ions such as Ca+ and Mg2+ in the product.

Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid can be mixed with alkyl esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid to enhance the effectiveness of traditional preservatives.

Without the addition of EDTA, these ester preservatives are highly effective against Gram-negative south. However, the efficacy of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is poor. This may be due to the low water solubility of ester preservatives at room temperature.

Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid can also improve the sterilization activity of phenol preservatives. Especially chloro-xylenol, o - benzyl - p - chlorophenol and mixed phenol.

In ADDITION, THE widely used imidazolIDylurea non-ionic preservative HAS a high activity when mixed with EDTA at a ratio of 0.15% to 0.15%. The activity of imidazolidyl urea non-ionic preservative at 0. 13% concentration alone was lower.

Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid also has a similar synergistic effect on a variety of traditional preservatives including 2-bromo-2-nitro-1, 3-propylene glycol, 1, 3-dihydroxymethyl-5, 5-dimethylethylene urea preservatives and dodecyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride quaternary ammonium preservatives.

Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid and its sodium salts have low toxicity. The lethal dose of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) to rabbits was 47 mg/kg (intravenous) and 2. 3 g/kg (oral). From the safety record of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid for many years, it is safe and reliable. Therefore, it does not cause allergy to consumers, nor is it irritating.