Antioxidant preservative - Chemists Corner

Tagged: antioxidant-lotion-extend-shelflife

Formulating

Antioxidant preservative

Posted by jessah on October 14, 2020 at 8:24 am

Hi everyone,

I was hoping to get some advice/help from you guys. Ive been struggling in searching for an antioxidant preservative for the lotion that we are making but still no luck.

So here is the API
Hydroquinone, Lactic, Kojic and Urea

Antioxidant presevative ive tried:
Sodium metabisulfite 0.2%
BHT
Phenoxyethanol
Sodium gluconate
Vitamin E

the last thing ive tried was Sodium metabisulfite as i read here that it helps them to extend the shelf life of their cream upto 6 months -1yr.
But in my case still its not stable, ive been thinking what else to add to extend the shelf life. Please help

Thank you to those who will response. It will be a great help

biofm replied 4 years, 3 months ago 12 Members · 18 Replies
- antioxidant-lotion-extend-shelflife
18 Replies

ketchito

Member
October 14, 2020 at 1:49 pm

@jessah What’s the issue you’re experiencing with your formula? Maybe the problem is not the antioxidant.
belassi

Member
October 14, 2020 at 9:56 pm

Isn’t hydroquinone banned?
ozgirl

Member
October 14, 2020 at 10:58 pm

Is the pH changing over time? It could be due to the urea.
jessah

Member
October 15, 2020 at 5:03 am

ketchito said:

@jessah What’s the issue you’re experiencing with your formula? Maybe the problem is not the antioxidant.

Hi! the issue is the shelf life.. as per our stability its only for 1 month.. and our goal is to make it stable for 6 months
jessah

Member
October 15, 2020 at 5:04 am

Belassi said:

Isn’t hydroquinone banned?

Hi Sir! here in dubai its not banned.. and we are just compunding it as per Doctor’s prescription
jessah

Member
October 15, 2020 at 5:06 am

ozgirl said:

Is the pH changing over time? It could be due to the urea.

hi! ph is within the range.. Urea we used 10%, so if we decreased the concentration there might be a chance to make it more stable?
belassi

Member
October 15, 2020 at 2:34 pm

10% urea seems a lot. I doubt it will stay pH stable for long. Acids + urea? Does it smell of ammonia at all? That would be a giveaway.
ketchito

Member
October 15, 2020 at 7:23 pm

Hi @jessah. It’d be better to know specifically what type of issue you have that impairs your shelf life. There are few things that can provoke that like flocculation, pH drift, phase separation, color change, viscosity loss, odor change, etc. So, to better tackle your issue, perhaps you can describe your problem better.
ngarayeva001

Member
October 15, 2020 at 8:05 pm

Lose that kojic acid and urea. Hydroquionone alone presents a significant formulation challenge. Yes, you need lactic acid and sodium metabisulfite. You also must passivate the steel you used in making it. Lookup for dupont’s formula as a starting point
ngarayeva001

Member
October 15, 2020 at 8:07 pm

I believe hydroquinone is available over the counter in the US at 1%. It’s banned in the UK, and is only available by prescription.
jessah

Member
October 18, 2020 at 4:57 am

ketchito said:

Hi @jessah. It’d be better to know specifically what type of issue you have that impairs your shelf life. There are few things that can provoke that like flocculation, pH drift, phase separation, color change, viscosity loss, odor change, etc. So, to better tackle your issue, perhaps you can describe your problem betteR

Hi! the main issue is the color change, because after 1 month in RT the color changes quick and I cannot change or remove one of the API because its what the Doctor’s need. Yes, smell is not pleasant then we add lavender oil for it. So yea, hoping to find a solution to make it more stable
amitvedakar

Member
October 18, 2020 at 5:28 am

Hydroquinone % ?

Try increaseing Sodium Metabisulfite.
ZleyHoldings

Member
October 27, 2020 at 2:42 am

You can try our chlorphenesin, caprylhydroxamic acid, and p-hydroxyacetophenone.

You can contact me.
Nora

Member
October 31, 2020 at 8:48 pm

I think you also add sodium sulphate to help metabisulphate work effectively
emma1985

Member
November 3, 2020 at 9:16 pm

Hydroquinone is banned in the EU, is available over the counter in the US at 2% and prescriptions here in the US go up to 8% I believe. I’m not convinced it’s harmful.
Pharma

Member
November 3, 2020 at 9:28 pm

It’s harmful, that’s a proven fact, though it depends on %. 1-2% should be fine but due to the potential risk, it’s not advised (here in Europe) to just use it like that as cosmetic (for beauty) but rather as pharmaceutical drug (against certain skin diseases).
OldPerry

Professional Chemist / Formulator
November 4, 2020 at 3:44 am

@emma1985 - it’s not banned in the EU. You can get it with a prescription.
biofm

Member
November 5, 2020 at 5:36 pm

how about a combo of sodium levulinate and sodium anisate. I can provide both of these in 100g quantities for trial.