In modern society, the use of the cosmetics covers a large number of products used by the consumers at daily rate or, at least, very frequently. For this reason, the people are motivated to carry out a careful production control to ensure the quality and efficacy of the product as well as the safety of the consumer.
The European regulation on cosmetic products ensures the protection of the consumer through prohibition and restriction of the availability of certain substances in the manufacture and marketing of cosmetic products. Nonetheless, official methods of cosmetic product analysis are rare and some of the existing methods need to be modernised in line with advances in regulations and analytical chemistry, so the needs of the sector are not yet covered. Therefore, it’s important to develop methods that can be used for the determination of components in both raw materials and cosmetic formulations of all kinds.
It has also been demonstrated that some cosmetic ingredients can be partially absorbed through the skin of consumers. Therefore, analytical methods with appropriate characteristics are required for application in studies of percutaneous absorption and excretion of cosmetic ingredients to assess the current ingredients and, if necessary, to prohibit or restrict the use of some of them and replace them by others, if deemed appropriate for the safety of consumers. In addition, there are also studies indicating that some cosmetic ingredients are emerging pollutants and there is a need to develop analytical methods that can be applied for environmental studies to assess the impact of existing ingredients and, if necessary, to take appropriate decisions to preserve the relevant ecosystems.
Since its foundation (1999), our research group has been working on the design, development, validation and application of methods for the analytical control of cosmetic products and raw materials, as well as their impact on humans and the environment, determining the concentration of authorised, restricted and prohibited components.
The group has developed different research projects, both public and private, which endorse its trajectory. As visible results, in the last 5 years, 15 articles have been published in first quartile journals in the area of Pharmacy and Pharmacology of the JCR.
The research activity has focused on studies of drug absorption through different routes (eye, intestine and skin, fundamentally), both from the point of view of the underlying mechanism and the possibilities of modifying it. In this sense, tools have been investigated to increase bioavailability (drugs that are not very soluble or have a significant first-pass effect) and, more recently, resources have been developed to reduce bioavailability by increasing the topical effect, in order to reduce the systemic toxicity of the drug.
To achieve these objectives, several strategies have been tested, including the use of solubility-enhancing excipients, microneedles, polymeric films and nano- and microparticles of different structure. Studies have been developed using in silico (computer modelling and statistical techniques) and in vitro (cell culture, diffusion cells and legal reference models) techniques to reduce the use of animals. Also, infrastructure and training is available to evaluate in vivo results in mice and rats.
Fundamental studies and development of analytical applications in liquid chromatography in all modalities (conventional, capillary and nano), electrophoresis and capillary electrochromatography and mass spectrometry. Studies on high-temperature chromatography. Development of new stationary phases with and without nanoparticles through chromatography, capillary electrochromatography and for pre-concentration in capillary electrophoresis. Fundamental studies on the design and manufacture of new monolithic stationary phases. Methods of analysis of industrial products: cleaning products, cosmetics, vegetable oils and others. Methods of analysis of industrial waste in the aquatic environment. Methods of analysis of chiral pharmaceutical compounds. Methods of analysis of biological samples.
