Nanomaterials and cosmetics: some news

In the last days I worked on the main topics introduced by the new european regulation on cosmetic products, the EU regulation number 1223/2009, recently adopted by the european parliament. This regulation has been finally done after more than 30 years of modification and integration of the previous european directive 76/768/CEE, regulating the production and commercialization of cosmetic products. The EU regulation n° 1223/2009 finally governs the use of nanomaterials in cosmetics. The use of nanomaterials and the growth of nanotechnology in the last years was a success and it regards different types of industries, from electronic and materials industries, to pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Nanomaterials are already in different types of cosmetics, even if there are not so many studies about the toxicological properties of these materials. Nanomaterials are defined as insoluble or biopersistant and intentionally manufactured materials with one or more external dimensions, or an internal structure, on the scale from 1 to 100 nm. It is easy to imagine how different could be the interaction of these materials and the skin and the possible absorption or migration through the skin. The high value of surface/volume ratio makes these materials good to catalyze different reactions and increase the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), including free radicals. It may results in oxidative stress, inflammation and consequent damage to proteins, membranes and DNA. In cosmetics there could be nanoparticles of metal oxides like titanium dioxide or zinc oxide used as sunscreens in different cosmetics or there could be nanomaterials that loose their structure upon the application on the skin, like as liposomes and nanoemulsions. Anyway, since there are not so many studies about them regarding their toxicological activity, the new regulation takes the obligations to the producers to evaluate the safety of the nanomaterials they use to formulate their cosmetics and gives to them the obligation to communicate their use and the amount of the nanomaterials used as well as all the informations about scientific studies on the safety of these materials and the exposure conditions. The regulation has been made for ensuring a high level of protection of human health!

A link to carbonated fruits!

I am really sorry with all my friends and readers of this blog, since in the previous posts I wrote just a few lines, but, believe me, I was super busy with work in the last months and it is not easy expecially when, like me, you do several things, mostly of them so different and you wanna do them at the same time!
In the previous post, I forgot to put a link to some recipes and a scientific explaination about carbonated fruits. Here, I will leave you with a link, in which you can find nice recipes of carbonated fruits, made with a siphon bottle. Enjoy reading it and hope to be back to you soon, with some other chemical news!

Siphon cakes, mousses and creams

A few days ago I was at the restaurant with some friends and at the end of the meal when we had to take the dessert I was tempted by the "Green tea siphon cake". I was guessing it was a great idea, but I decided to take the more conventional tiramisù. Anyway, my brother tried the siphon cake, so I couldnt resist to take at least a little piece from his plate and I discovered it was very soft and with an amazing taste. By doing a research on Internet, I discovered the Siphon is widely used to make cakes, desserts, mousses, creams and other different types of meals. By modulating temperature, and pressure of gases (carbon dioxide mainly), it is possible to control the thickness of a cream or the texture of carbonated fruits. Every day we can say the future of gastronomy belongs to chemistry!