Paolo Giacomoni, PhD, Insight Analysis Consulting05.01.20
In the case of pandemics, such as the one we are experiencing now, two major questions must be asked:
A pathogenic agent can be transmitted via the respiratory route when it is released by the infected persons in the form of liquid droplets called aerosols that contain the pathogenic agent itself.
These droplets can be taken up by surrounding people who are close enough to breathe them in, before they “dilute out” or fall to the ground. People might think that masks will hinder the breathing of aerosols., but this is not absolutely true. Typical masks do not protect the wearer against the infectious aerosol particles! They protect others against potentially infectious aerosol particles released by the person wearing the mask. To be protective for the mask wearer, the mask must be properly fitted and not leave room for air to go around the mask into the nose-mouth of the person that carries the mask.
When sufficient time is allotted, ways to avoid the pandemic infection can be devised, drugs or vaccines can be prepared, and tools to help caring for the infected people can be produced on an industrial scale.
Protecting Chemists
In the personal care industry, items intended to protect laboratory chemists from hazards linked to their daily activities are of current use. Gloves, goggles, masks, lab coats and cleaning materials are commodities found in every laboratory.
When appropriate measures are taken to limit the contact between individuals, the use of such items can also protect the individual laboratory chemist against infectious agents. One such measure could be alternating work at home and in the laboratory. For example, one could say that limiting in a given day the number of chemists actually engaged in laboratory work, would more than double the physical “distance” and consequently reduce the chance of random contact, between colleagues, particularly so when protective garments are used. One way to do so is encouraging work from home and have half the chemists in the workforce spending one week in the lab and one week at home and vice versa. Of course, half/half could be one third/one third/one third, according to the specific situation.
Far from wasting time, lab chemists working at home could take advantage of the consequent “peace of mind” to analyze the results of the work that had been performed previously and to think ahead for new possible formulas with new technologies. The contact with marketing and product development executives, also working from home, will hinder neither the creativity of the marketing/R&D interaction nor the analysis of future market trends. Discussions with raw material suppliers can continue, too, online, by phone or via videoconference, so that no opportunity will be missed to envision the use of new ingredients, be they humectants, emollients, thickeners, film-formers, emulsifiers or actives.
How Can We Help?
The personal care industry is particularly well-suited to provide large scale supplies that can be of potential help in the case of pandemics. One example, of course, is hand sanitizer; this ubiquitous formula can be produced on a large scale and can be improved in short times, (e.g. alcohol based or soap based according to the nature of the pathogen) to become more effective against a given infective agent.
Should the pathogen infect the skin, as in the case of leprosy, the personal care industry is well equipped to quickly formulate, with the agreement of the FDA, tankers of body creams or lotions containing the appropriate drugs to fight the pathogen as well as the appropriate film-forming ingredients to avoid the adventitious penetration into the skin of those pathogens that might survive the action of the drugs.
The personal care industry is also well equipped to provide large numbers of wipes and spray cans to clean and disinfect surfaces at risk of having been contaminated by the pathogen, including countertops, doorknobs, keyboards, drive-through ATMs and supermarket carts.
Players in the personal care industry are well-trained in communication; they know how to make it easy for the layperson to understand difficult concepts. Experts in scientific communication from the personal care industry may be instrumental in conveying the messages from local or federal authorities as to why certain measures are put in place and why certain decisions have been made.
The editors of beauty magazines will arrange interviews and comments to disseminate the information. This could be of help in avoiding confusion in the mind of the citizens while encouraging every one to follow the recommendations from responsible scientific leadership and administrative authorities.
Paolo Giacomoni, PhD
Insight Analysis Consulting
paologiac@gmail.com
516-769-6904
Paolo Giacomoni acts as an independent consultant to the skin care industry. He served as executive director of research at Estée Lauder and was head of the department of biology with L’Oréal. He has built a record of achievements through research on DNA damage and metabolic impairment induced by UV radiation as well as on the positive effects of vitamins and antioxidants. He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and has more than 20 patents.
- How can the players in a specific professional domain pursue their activity while being protected?
- What can the industry in that specific domain do to be of help in fighting the pandemics?
A pathogenic agent can be transmitted via the respiratory route when it is released by the infected persons in the form of liquid droplets called aerosols that contain the pathogenic agent itself.
These droplets can be taken up by surrounding people who are close enough to breathe them in, before they “dilute out” or fall to the ground. People might think that masks will hinder the breathing of aerosols., but this is not absolutely true. Typical masks do not protect the wearer against the infectious aerosol particles! They protect others against potentially infectious aerosol particles released by the person wearing the mask. To be protective for the mask wearer, the mask must be properly fitted and not leave room for air to go around the mask into the nose-mouth of the person that carries the mask.
When sufficient time is allotted, ways to avoid the pandemic infection can be devised, drugs or vaccines can be prepared, and tools to help caring for the infected people can be produced on an industrial scale.
Protecting Chemists
In the personal care industry, items intended to protect laboratory chemists from hazards linked to their daily activities are of current use. Gloves, goggles, masks, lab coats and cleaning materials are commodities found in every laboratory.
When appropriate measures are taken to limit the contact between individuals, the use of such items can also protect the individual laboratory chemist against infectious agents. One such measure could be alternating work at home and in the laboratory. For example, one could say that limiting in a given day the number of chemists actually engaged in laboratory work, would more than double the physical “distance” and consequently reduce the chance of random contact, between colleagues, particularly so when protective garments are used. One way to do so is encouraging work from home and have half the chemists in the workforce spending one week in the lab and one week at home and vice versa. Of course, half/half could be one third/one third/one third, according to the specific situation.
Far from wasting time, lab chemists working at home could take advantage of the consequent “peace of mind” to analyze the results of the work that had been performed previously and to think ahead for new possible formulas with new technologies. The contact with marketing and product development executives, also working from home, will hinder neither the creativity of the marketing/R&D interaction nor the analysis of future market trends. Discussions with raw material suppliers can continue, too, online, by phone or via videoconference, so that no opportunity will be missed to envision the use of new ingredients, be they humectants, emollients, thickeners, film-formers, emulsifiers or actives.
How Can We Help?
The personal care industry is particularly well-suited to provide large scale supplies that can be of potential help in the case of pandemics. One example, of course, is hand sanitizer; this ubiquitous formula can be produced on a large scale and can be improved in short times, (e.g. alcohol based or soap based according to the nature of the pathogen) to become more effective against a given infective agent.
Should the pathogen infect the skin, as in the case of leprosy, the personal care industry is well equipped to quickly formulate, with the agreement of the FDA, tankers of body creams or lotions containing the appropriate drugs to fight the pathogen as well as the appropriate film-forming ingredients to avoid the adventitious penetration into the skin of those pathogens that might survive the action of the drugs.
The personal care industry is also well equipped to provide large numbers of wipes and spray cans to clean and disinfect surfaces at risk of having been contaminated by the pathogen, including countertops, doorknobs, keyboards, drive-through ATMs and supermarket carts.
Players in the personal care industry are well-trained in communication; they know how to make it easy for the layperson to understand difficult concepts. Experts in scientific communication from the personal care industry may be instrumental in conveying the messages from local or federal authorities as to why certain measures are put in place and why certain decisions have been made.
The editors of beauty magazines will arrange interviews and comments to disseminate the information. This could be of help in avoiding confusion in the mind of the citizens while encouraging every one to follow the recommendations from responsible scientific leadership and administrative authorities.
Paolo Giacomoni, PhD
Insight Analysis Consulting
paologiac@gmail.com
516-769-6904
Paolo Giacomoni acts as an independent consultant to the skin care industry. He served as executive director of research at Estée Lauder and was head of the department of biology with L’Oréal. He has built a record of achievements through research on DNA damage and metabolic impairment induced by UV radiation as well as on the positive effects of vitamins and antioxidants. He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and has more than 20 patents.
