The Preparation and Safety Determination of Gel Cosmetic Containing Glycolic Acid

An, Eun-joo; Kim, Jeong-hee

Journal of the Korean Society of Cosmetology 2018;24(4):779-785.
Published online August 31, 2018.

Glycolic acid를 함유한 Gel 화장품 제조 및 안전성 평가

안은주, 김정희

The Preparation and Safety Determination of Gel Cosmetic Containing Glycolic Acid

Eun-joo An, Jeong-hee Kim

Abstract

Glycolic acid(GA) is well known the effective cosmetic ingredient in the epidermal remodeling, accelerated desquamation and inhibitory effect in melanin synthesis. The gel containing GA has not been reported in terms of safety. To assess the safety of GA, gels were prepared to contain various concentration of GA 0% (control), 1% (Sample A), 3% (Sample B) and 5% (Sample C). The samples were subjected to a patch test and toxicity test for safety evaluation. The toxicity test is to measure the cell viability by injecting a gel containing GA into human keratinocytes and human fibroblasts. The patch test was performed to evaluate the occurrence of erythema on the patch area according to the criteria of ICDRG after applying the gel containing GA. To evaluate the safety of the prepared gels, cytotoxicity was examined using human keratinocytes and fibroblasts. The cell viability test showed more than 78% of the cell survival rate at all concentrations of GA. A repeated patch test was performed for 4 weeks to investigate the degree of skin irritation of GA gel. As a result, GA 5% gel was not suitable as a cosmetic due to toxicity showing erythema reaction in three subjects. Thus, gel containing GA 5% was excluded in further assessment and GA 1% and GA 3% were applied to eye patches. This study has shown that formulations both GA 1% and GA 3% gel can be used as an ingredient for novel cosmeceutical product.

Key Words: Gel, Glycolic acid, Patch test, Preparation, Safety