Skin Sensitization Induction Risk Assessment of Common Ingredients in Commercially Available Cleansing Conditioners

An essential step in ensuring the toxicological safety of cosmetic or personal care products is the evaluation of the skin sensitizing potential of product ingredients.

We used a standardized protocol from cosmetic trade industry and consumer safety groups to evaluate the sensitization potential of ingredients in 3 commercially available cleansing conditioners.

A total of 33 ingredients were evaluated. Each ingredient underwent (1) dermatological evaluation, (2) in silico analysis for irritation and sensitization potential, and (3) a literature evaluation to determine risk of sensitization. Consumer exposure level was compared with the weight-of-evidence no-expected sensitization induction level for the constituent. If a no-expected sensitization induction level for a specific ingredient was not available, the dermal sensitization threshold approach was used. A margin of safety was calculated for each constituent.

The margins of safety for all evaluated ingredients in the cleansing conditioners were greater than 1.

This analysis indicates that exposure to the individual ingredients present in these cleansing conditioners would not be expected to induce dermal sensitization in a consumer under the examined exposure scenario.