J. Soc. Cosmetic Chemists, 18, 797-807 (Dec. 9, 1967) Pseudomonads in Cosmetics SAUL TENENBAUM M.S.* _Presented before the New York Chapter, October 3, 1•96'6' Synopsis--Pseudomonads are bacterial organisms found in soil, water, air, and food, in and on the body. They break emulsions and produce foul odors and slime while decomposing cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. The organisms have the capacity to develop resistance to agents inimical to other microorganisms. Preparations are placed on preservation study to determine the ability of a product to withstand consumer use and abuse. Some materials can inactivate the preservatives used to protect the product. The only effective way of knowing whether a product is protected is to inoculate the formulation with organisms and examine for viability. The ability of pseudomonads to adapt to and proliferate in prepara- tions is such that maintenance of the inoculum is insufficient for adequate preservation status. The only properly preserved preparation is one that is essentially self-sterilizing. A self-sterilizing preparation can be achieved, in most cosmetic products, without an increase in costs or loss of marketability. INTRODUCTION Pseudomonads are bacterial organisms frequently responsible for deterioration of food, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, and cos- metics. They participate in the degradation of polystyrene, dibutyl phthalate, polyvinyl chloride, formaldehyde resins, cutting oils, jet fuel, kerosene, and interfere in the manufacture of paper and plastics (1). Military and related civilian research into contaminated jet fuel have demonstrated that pseudomonads are an important member of the con- taminating flora. The degree of contamination has, on occasion, been severe enough to degrade the fuel and cause operating problems. Pseudomonads are heterotrophic, asporogenous, polarly flagellated organisms with or without slime, with or without pyocyanine, with or without green-yellowish fluorescence, and with or without a yellow- brown colony. Only in a few cases can the genus be easily recognized by * Revlon Research Center, 945 Zerega Avenue, Bronx, N.Y. 10473. 797

798 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS one of its striking properties such as pigment formation. From an in- dustrial-point of view pseudomonads can be considered, in a general sense, as motile, gram-negative rods giving a positive oxidase test. Psychro- philic pseudomonads are ubiquitous and can be isolated from soil, fresh and salt water, food, skin, and feces. Reports of pseudomonads in pharmaceuticals and cosmetic products, with the exception of ophthalmic preparations, have been scarce and one would believe that pseudomonal contamination of pharmaceuticals and, in particular, cosmetics are infrequent. The most frequent con- taminant of ophthalmic preparations and, as such, responsible for serious eye injuries and even loss of vision has been Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2, 3). Accordingly, nonsterile preparations are now regarded as adul- terated and misbranded within the U. S. Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Further, multiple dose ophthalmic products must contain agents that will inhibit the growth of microorganisms (4). During the past decade a number of preservation failures in cosmetic products have been reported. Bryce and Smart (5), for example, found that contaminated hair products, of all varieties, invariably contained gram-negative organisms some of which were pseudomonads. This period coincides with the period of changeover from anionic to nonionic emulsifiers (6). These nonionic surfactants, derived from fatty acids, are responsible for the superiority of current cosmetic and pharmaceuti- cal preparations as stable, smooth, appealing, and effective formulations compared to those of 10 years ago. But nonionics have changed many preparations which could not support microorganisms into veritable cul- ture media for growth, and the contamination organisms found most fre- quently have been pseudomonas. Although there have been relatively few published reports dealing directly with pseudomonas contamination, the many publications con- cerning problems in preservation which have appeared within this same period, frequently mention this genus. Within the 1957-1960 period, for example, a dozen different pseudomonads were isolated from commer- cial and experimental formulations and this experience has occurred in several other laboratories. Thus, pseudomoniasis has been and is a con- tinuing problem. SUSCEPTIBLE PREPARATIONS AND THEIR CONTAMINANTS Pseudomonas growth has been found in or reported as responsible for the degradation of shampoos, facial lotions, sun preparations, baby prod- ucts, ophthalmic solutions, make-up products, cleansing creams, emol-