Surfactant market Personal care

An industrial blend of ethylene oxide (EO) PEMS marketed as a personal care product was examined by positive ion FIA-APCI-MS and LC-APCI-MS-MS (Fig. 2.8.8) [41]. The FIA-APCI-MS spectrum without LC separation (Fig. 2.8.8(a)) is dominated by ions corresponding to unreacted PEG (m/z 520, 564, 608, 652,...), whilst the ions corresponding to the PEMS (m/z 516, 560, 604, 648,...) could only be clearly observed following LC separation (Fig. 2.8.8(b)). Comparison of the TIC chromatograms of PEMS and PEG (Fig. 2.8.8(c) and (h)) demonstrates the dominance of the PEG by-products in the commercial formulation. It is unclear whether the observed relative intensities are representative of the actual amounts or of the different ionisation efficiencies, due to the confidential nature of the product composition. However, the spectra indicate a trisiloxane surfactant structure of that shown in Fig. 2.8.2 (R = Ac) and FIA-MS analysis of another commercial formulation of this product showed good spectra dominated by the silicone surfactants [48], indicating that the PEG by-product composition can vary significantly in commercially available PEMS formulations. 

In the personal care market, fatty acid derivatives of proteins and amino acids (glutamic acid) are mainly used in mild shower and bath products, mild shampoos, surfactant-based face cleansers, cold-wave preparations and fixatives, baby wash formulations, as well as special emulsifiers for leave-on products. 

Chemical companies, including some petrochemical producers, generally produce excipient grades of such classes of synthetic organic chemicals as solvents, polymers, alcohols, esters, surfactants, etc. These companies also usually produce these same chemicals in grades suitable for other markets such as those servicing personal care, foods, and industrial. It is quite common for these other applications to dwarf the excipient grade in terms of both volume and dollar value. 

In personal care, washing involving the body, hair and teeth is the fundamental application of surfactants and there are also important roles played by surfactants as emulsifiers in skin care products. In the late 1970s the hand soap market was revolutionised by the introduction of liquid soaps based on synthetic surfactants as opposed to the bar soaps based on natural... 

In the 1970s and 1980s, a number of amphoteric surfactants were introduced to the market that were based on alkyl polyamines, primary amines upon which is condensed acrylonitrile, then hydrogenated to produce an alkyl propylenediamine and, with additional cycles, alkyl polyamines. These, in turn, are alkylated with sodium chloroacetate to produce alkyl polyamine polycarboxylates. Some of these products find utility in laundry applications, in personal care products and as industrial foamers. 

The worldwide consumption of surfactants in 2003 is shown in Table 36.5. In many parts of the world, soap is still the primary surfactant for textile washing and personal care. Synthetic detergents are widely used in the devolved regions of the world including North America, Western Europe, and Japan. Anionic surfactants dominate the world surfactant market. Common anionic surfactants include LAS, AS, and AES. The second largest class of surfactants is the nonionics of which AE and APE are most common. The use of APE is in decline because of concerns with biodegradability and endocrine disruption. Quats are commonly used in antibacterial formulations because of their ability to lyse the cell membrane of... 

The personal care industry remains traditionally the largest consumer of soaps depending on the region, from 50 to 75 % of the total surfactant consumption accounts for soaps [81], The increase in body shampoo consumption last decades is assumed to alter the soap market slightly. The consumption rate of soap in household and laundry aids is quite modest now and limited essentially by the "old times" detergents, foam-control additives, chlorine-containing alkali cleaners, and metal cutting oils. The sodium salts of rosin acids and wool wax acids are of some importance for technical needs and bar soaps. 

Owing to their compatibility with cationic biocides, amphoteric and amine oxide surfactants continue to be used widely in the development and formulation of disinfectants and sanitizers for personal care, household, industrial, and institutional markets. For instance, substituted imidazoline amphoteric surfactants, in combination with didecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride, have been found to display unexpected synergistic irritation reduction compared to formulas with alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chlorides [57]. Also, imidazoline derivatives and betaines are known to impart moderate cleansing without causing skin roughness, stickiness, or irritating reactions with cationic disinfectants [58], Amphoteric surfactants are also suitable for use in antimicrobial medications requiring subcutaneous, cutaneous, or mucosal membrane administration [36]. 

With the increasing demand for skin care and repair products, the personal care market is evolving toward even milder, essentially nonirritating cleansing formulations. To design such skin-compatible compounds, it is only natural to attempt to imitate the functional characteristics of the biochemical surfactants, phospholipids. The phosphocholine moiety is the most common hydrophilic group, usually coupled to a diglyceride hydrophobe unit as in lecithin, a phospholipid commercially extracted from egg and soybean products. 

Finally, Colonial Chanical has introduced anionic Suga Phos surfactants, marketed as a gemini surfactant with mild properties for use in personal care applications [110]. The surfactants (Figure 29.29) are apparently produced by linking alkylpolyglucosides with a hydroxypropyl phosphate spacer via a chlorohydroxypropyl phosphate intermediate. 

The commercial prospects of protein-based surfactants (PBS) is expected to be huge, especially at the more expensive end of the market, such as pharmaceutical formulations and personal care products, where a broad range of functionality (e.g., safety, mildness to skin, high surface activity, antimicrobial activity, biodegradability) is desired. 

In this chapter, we provide information on the potential applications of PBS, with emphasis on the personal care, detergent, food, and agricultural sectors. Since the personal care and household detergent sectors represent the largest single use and market share of surfactants in general, the existing and potential applications of PBS in these two sectors will be extensively discussed. 

Surfactants are consumed in various industrial applications directly or indirectly connected to our daily lives. Market shares of surfactants in the United States in 1997 are shown in Figure 1. Consumption of household cleansing products, personal care products, and industrial and institutional (I I) cleansing products exceeds more than 60% of the 5.14 billion pounds of surfactants produced in the United States in 1997 [1]. In Japan, I I consumption exceeds over 50% of total production [2]. Anionic surfactants are the most common type utilized for every application because of their highly effective detergency and relatively lower cost. Thus anionic surfactants dominate household cleaning products. 

The surfactant in this case, L64, is a member of the Pluronic family (marketed by BASF) these are triblocks composed of poly(ethyleneoxide) (PEO) and poly(propyleneoxide) (PPO) blocks. Some of these surfactants are popular in drug delivery, others are used in washing powders and personal care products such as toothpaste. The surfactants are soft they are mild to the skin. The amphiphilic power is modest too. The hydrophilic block PEO is only slightly less hydrophobic than the PPO block. In fact, the solubility of PEO is an unresolved mystery in itself, maybe related to the cage structure of the hydrated ethylene oxide monomer. Poly (methylene oxide) is insoluble, PEO is soluble, PPO and poly (butylene oxide) and higher are all insoluble. 

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