Microbiology, QC and More For Personal Care

Attention to safety and quality are building blocks for a successful personal care business. To that end, nearly 300 people attended the Personal Care Product Council’s Annual Science Symposium & Expo, which was held Oct. 28-29 at the Renaissance Newark Airport Hotel in Elizabeth, NJ. Attendees came to discuss and learn more about critical issues such as microbiology, quality assurance, safety and environmental issues that play a major role in personal care formulation.

The Council split this event into two concurrent, specialized tracks—Microbiology and Environmental on the opening day, and Safety Assessment and Quality Assurance on the second day.

The Microbiolgy Workshop on Tuesday, Oct. 28 was moderated by Deidre Mitchell of Unilever. Presentations on preservative efficacy testing followed by Phil Geis of Advanced Testing Labs and Leon Nepomniashy of Energizer. After a coffee break during which attendees were able to visit with exhibitors in the exposition, Don English presented his talk called “Leaner Microbiology Lab.”

The Council then organized a panel discussion during which industry experts were able to talk about potential approaches for streamlining microbiological assessments in the laboratory during the development of personal care/cosmetic formulations/products. Members of this panel included Vanita Srinivasan (Johnson & Johnson), Steve Schnittger (Estée Lauder), Joyce Beauchamp (L’Oréal), Keith Goins (Consumer Product Testing Labs).

Among the topics addressed by the panel was challenge testing. “Challenge testing is a snapshot,” noted Schnittger of Estée Lauder. “But if the guys at the plant and in quality assurance testing aren’t doing their job, all that data is irrelevant,” he warned.

Concurrent to the Microbiology Workshop was the Environmental Workshop, which included keynote speaker Allen Burton of University of Michigan who discussed “Environmental Epidemiology.” Later discussions included “What can the industry learn from the pharmaceutical sector about environmental risk assessment?” by Dan Caldwell of Johnson & Johnson and “Higher tier biodegradation tests and regulatory requirements: What data should be required?” by Jon Ericson of Pfizer.

Following lunch, this workshop included a look at the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), a non-profit, worldwide professional society comprised of individuals and institutions whose mission is to support the development of principles and practices for protection, enhancement and management of sustainable environmental quality and ecosystem integrity by executive global director Charlie Menzie. In addition, there was a presentation on animal alternatives for environmental toxicity testing by Scott Belanger of Procter & Gamble. In the afternoon, the special featured speaker was Prof. Rominder Suri, Temple University, who is chair of the Environmental Engineering Department and director of the Water & Environmental Technology Center. Prof. Suri’s topic was “Wastewater Removal of Microplastic Beads.”

On Wednesday, Oct. 29, the Council’s dual track format allowed for attendees to sit in on workshops covering quality assurance and safety.

The keynote speaker in the quality workshop was Sarah deLiefde, CEB, Quality Leadership Council. According to the speaker, the efforts of quality programs often happen almost silently in organizations although they are bringing value back to the company. More attention should be paid to these efforts and practices, according to deLiefe, who said that management should draw attention to and shed light on those who prevent the fire rather than just the hero who puts a fire out.

“A culture of quality can be defined and measured, and since it can be measured, it can be improved,” she said.

Following deLiefde was John Coyle, director of global quality at Amway, with his presentation entitled “Culture of Quality Journey: Internal Perspective.”

During his talk, Coyle discussed evolutionary changes in how Amway viewed “quality” in the supply chain, moving from an atmosphere were quality operated in a “silo” to one where the company as a whole took ownership. According to Coyle, creating a culture of quality “can’t be delegated. The change starts with leadership. Everyone needs to own quality.”