Phototoxicity Evaluation of Hair Cleansing Conditioners

Abstract

Photoactivation of cosmetic products and/or their ingredients may be associated with adverse skin reactions. Concerns have been raised regarding potential adverse health effects associated with the use of WEN by Chaz Dean (WCD) hair-cleansing conditioners, including alleged symptoms of redness, burning sensation, and irritation. The objective of this study was to use a validated phototoxicity test to evaluate the phototoxic potential of WCD hair-cleansing conditioners, and to demonstrate this assay’s applicability to personal care and cosmetic products. Balb/c 3T3 mouse fibroblast cells were exposed to the test articles for one hour. Following the incubation, one set of treated 3T3 cells were irradiated with 5 J/cm2 Solar Simulated Light (SSL), while a duplicate set of treated 3T3 cells were kept in the dark. After UV irradiation, cell viability was determined by neutral red uptake. The difference in cell viability between the SSL exposed and non-exposed 3T3 cells were used to determine the phototoxic potential of the test articles. Under the conditions tested, WCD hair-cleansing conditioners were not phototoxic, while the positive control was significantly phototoxic. Taken together, these results demonstrate that that the use of WCD hair-cleansing conditioners would not be expected to cause phototoxicity in consumers.