Focus on hygiene and health

Specialty chemicals company LANXESS will be showcasing a number of new products for the personal care and home care industry at the SEPAWA Congress in Berlin. The extensive portfolio includes preservatives, multifunctionals, flavors, and fragrances.

The company’s products help to protect consumers and ensure their wellbeing. LANXESS has brought together the corresponding solutions from various business units in its Consumer Protection segment. The company is one of the world’s leading suppliers of high-quality preservatives such as benzoates and phenoxyethanol.

LANXESS preservatives are used in leave-on and rinse-off products, like face creams and shampoos, shower gels, deodorants, and make-up, and can be found in many well-known branded products worldwide. The range extends from traditional to nature-identical and natural solutions that are authorized for use under green-label certifications such as the EU Ecolabel, Ecocert, NATRUE, COSMOS, and Nordic Swan.

Household and commercial cleaning products

In home care and commercial cleaning, LANXESS preservatives help to protect cleaning products from microorganisms like bacteria, mold, and yeast. Efficient preservation ensures the durability and performance of household products.

The range of household and commercial applications includes hand and dishwashing detergents, liquid laundry products, fabric softeners, floor and furniture care products, all-purpose cleaning products, and cleaning wipes. “With our wide range of preservatives, we provide solid foundations for guaranteeing the safety and effectiveness of home and personal care products. From traditional and nature-identical products to products based on naturally derived ingredients, our product range ensures hygiene and longevity and protects consumers against harmful microbes, bacteria, and mold,” says Vivien Konetzky, Global Product Manager at LANXESS. “Our R&D team is working on various innovation projects for sustainable solutions in order to meet regulatory requirements and consumer preferences alike.”

With the well-being of consumers in mind, LANXESS focuses on sustainable and safe solutions. This includes Neolone BioG Preservative, which is derived from natural raw materials like sugar beets and corn and offers excellent protection against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, yeasts, and molds. It is non-irritating, COSMOS and NATRUE certified, and ideal for formulations with pH ranges from 3 to 6.

With Bioban PH 100 Antimicrobial, LANXESS offers its customers a phenol-free phenoxyethanol preservative for home-care applications that can be used in a wide pH range and is easily incorporated into different formulations.

The portfolio is complemented by the fast-acting, environmentally friendly Oxone, a high-performance oxidant for various additional home care applications including washing detergents and cleaning products.

Poster presentation on multifunctional ingredients

Melanie Keck, Technical Application Manager in the LANXESS Material Protection Products business unit, will deliver a poster presentation providing insights into an innovation project on multifunctional ingredients. These include a biodegradable ingredient that significantly increases the antimicrobial efficiency of preservatives like phenoxyethanol and benzyl alcohol. The presentation will also cover multifunctional capabilities, including antioxidant and chelator functions.

LANXESS also offers more sustainable product variants for most of its portfolio of preservatives, flavors, and fragrances. The company uses biodegradable products that are made from natural raw materials or that enable manufacturers to reduce their carbon footprint across the entire value chain. Another pillar of the LANXESS sustainability strategy: All five production sites of the Flavors & Fragrances (F&F) business unit are ISCC PLUS certified.

Highly sustainable sodium benzoate: Purox S Scopeblue

Purox S Scopeblue is the more climate-friendly alternative to the established product Purox S, the nature-identical and readily biodegradable sodium benzoate. LANXESS uses the Scopeblue brand label to denote its own products whose carbon footprint is at least 50 percent lower than that of conventional products or which consist of at least 50 percent sustainable raw materials. Purox S Scopeblue is produced using green-energy and renewable raw materials, making it essentially climate neutral according to the mass balance approach. As it is technically identical to standard Purox S, manufacturers do not need to change their formulations when switching to the Scopeblue variant. Purox S Scopeblue is an outstanding solution for formulators who wish to take advantage of the reliable preservative effect of sodium benzoate in formulations with a low carbon footprint.

Dr. Michael Zobel, head of the LANXESS F&F business unit: “Our Purox S Scopeblue based on renewable raw materials has a product carbon footprint that is up to 100 percent lower and helps to reduce the overall carbon footprint of personal care products containing our benzoate. With the introduction of ISCC PLUS-certified products using the mass balance approach, we are responding to the demand for gentle, effective, and environmentally friendly preservatives for the home and personal care industry.”

Another example is the Kalaguard SB Scopeblue preservative for the cleaning agent industry, which is the world’s first ISCC PLUS-certified sodium benzoate based on renewable raw materials. An effective yet gentle preservative, it provides optimum protection against bacteria, yeasts, and molds at pH levels up to 7.0 without irritating the skin. Kalaguard SB is also nature identical and readily biodegradable.

Biodegradable dispersing and complexing agents

A pioneer among manufacturers of biodegradable dispersing and complexing agents, LANXESS is also driving the transformation to more sustainable products. For example, the PCF for Baypure has been reduced further since systematic and certified recording was introduced. LANXESS is also working to improve its product score in the life cycle assessment (LCA) according to ISO 14044, amended 2020. Baypure CX has already obtained a particularly positive score based on this standard.

In the area of cleaning agents and water treatment, the LANXESS portfolio includes dispersing and complexing agents from the Baypure series, the scale and corrosion inhibitor Bayhibit, and the surfactant Mersolat. In modern dish soaps and washing detergents, Baypure products are characterized by particularly good bleaching system stabilization and outstanding material compatibility such as low glass corrosion. They also reduce water hardness, prevent lime and dirt deposits, and can effectively bind traces of heavy metals, giving them a wide range of uses in areas such as cosmetics, dye stabilization, and odor absorption.

Bayhibit phosphonates, characterized by an outstanding P-content/performance ratio, have proven themselves in demanding tough industrial and institutional (I&I) applications. They are also particularly stable against concentrated alkalis and bleaching agents even at high temperatures and are widely used in applications such as industrial bottle cleaning.

Healthcare by Saltigo – sustainable solutions and highly effective insect repellent technology

Saltigo, a trusted leader in custom manufacturing, is an ideal partner for innovations in personal care, specialty molecule production, and active ingredients. With decades of experience, a cutting-edge portfolio, and a strong focus on intellectual property protection, Saltigo serves as a comprehensive one-stop partner, offering end-to-end support from process development to full-scale production. Saltigo prioritizes the development of net-zero products and the use of sustainable raw materials, aligning with global sustainability goals and meeting the evolving demands of eco-conscious consumers. Besides custom manufacturing services Saltigo offers an effective and gentle active ingredient for insect repellents called Saltidin.

Mosquito and tick bites are unpleasant enough as it is, but what’s much more concerning is when insect bites transmit dangerous diseases. Diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, like dengue fever, have become a growing problem worldwide in recent years. South America is currently seeing a notable outbreak, for instance. However, consumers can protect themselves against these vector-borne diseases.

Saltidin insect repellent is ideal not only for manufacturers of insect repellents but also for cosmetics providers looking to offer a gentle and effective healthcare product. “Saltidin has proven to be a highly effective active ingredient when it comes to protecting against mosquitoes and ticks. In addition to stemming the spread of illnesses like dengue fever, its use has helped to significantly improve the quality of life in the affected regions,” says Dr. Sibel Go, Technical Product Manager for Saltidin at Saltigo GmbH. “Thanks to its outstanding cosmetic properties, Saltidin not only offers effective protection against mosquitoes and ticks, but also serves as the ideal basis for formulating insect repellents that are gentle and friendly to the skin. The active ingredient allows the development of products that are both effective and pleasant to use – a real step forward in insect bite protection.”

At noon on the second day of the congress, Go, who is an expert in active ingredients, will be giving a presentation entitled “The increase in dengue fever infections: Preventive measures using Saltidin as the active ingredient in insect repellent products.” The active ingredient, which goes by the trade name Icaridin, is recommended by various national and international health organizations as an effective prophylaxis. Thanks to its outstanding cosmetic characteristics, it can be used to produce insect repellents for the whole family.

The SEPAWA Congress is Europe’s premier gathering for the detergent/cleaning agent, cosmetics, and fragrance industries. It features numerous talks and presentations with international experts reporting on recent research findings and innovative developments. In the exhibition area, more than 300 companies will be showcasing the latest products, trends, and extensive expertise. There will also be a host of opportunities for networking, allowing attendees to establish and build upon professional and personal relationships.

Further information on LANXESS cosmetics and personal care products can be found at https://lanxess.com/en/company/corporate-structure/business-units/flavors-and-fragrances, https://lanxess.com/en/products-and-brands/industries/microbial-control/industries-overview/personal-care and https://lanxess.com/en/products-and-brands/brands/saltidin.