Arch Personal Care Launches New Preservatives

Arch Personal Care has introduced two new globally approved patent pending systems, Mikrokill PCC and Mikrokill COS and re-introduced two existing products, Biovert and Cosmocil CQ, which recently became part of the company’s new preservation product portfolio when Arch Chemicals acquired Avecia in 2004.
According to Eva-Maria Harthaus, senior technical marketing specialist, the Paraben cancer controversy has alarmed many personal care companies and has opened the doors to consideration of alternative preservative systems.
“In response, we researched and developed Mikrokill PCC and Mikrokill COS which is a patent pending broad-spectrum preservative system and approved for use in the U.S., Europe and Japan. Both systems are paraben-, formaldehyde- and isothiazolene-free,” said Ms. Harthaus. “In addition the Biovert System is a highly unique natural enzyme system that mimics the body’s natural defense mechanism and Cosmocil CQ is a unique polymeric cationic system with an outstanding safety profile.”
Ms. Harthaus said there has been increasing concern about safety and avoidance of ingredients that have an unfavorable connotation in the trade and consumer press. Morever, there is an equal level of concern with preservatives that donate or liberate formaldehyde and isothiazolones. Despite these issues, Ms. Harthaus insisted that Arch has the infrastructure to meet the demands of cosmetic formulators.
“As a unit of Arch Chemical Inc., we have access to the parent company’s world class technical center in Cheshire CT,” she told Happi. “We have re-directed part of the technical expertise in industrial biocides and anti-dandruff ingredients to the development of new preservative systems for the personal care market. This has worked out very well and we are starting to make an impact on this market.