Panelist coming soon!

Addressing the gap between required ingredient disclosure and a consumers’ right to understand and be able to make informed decisions is a meaningful way for the cleaning products industry to voluntarily exceed regulations to show a commitment to meeting consumer's transparency demands. The American Cleaning Institute’s Future Leaders have developed a simple, searchable database of over 800+ chemical ingredients commonly found within household cleaners, tested for consumer-friendly language and understanding of how they function. Leveraging these consumer-tested ingredient terms and functions provide a pivotal opportunity for standardized industry language, applicable across brand/product websites, education resources, and packaging. Adoption of this shared, universal system centers the consumers' understanding and provides a template for stakeholders to empower them. This session will speak to the consumer insights behind this project, the database tool and how your company can best utilize it.

Bryan Parrish | Associate Research Director, The Clorox Company
Kristin Cordz | VP Business Development aka The Bitter Gal, Market Actives, LLC ‐ The Bitrex® Experts

Biosurfactants are surface-active compounds that are naturally produced with a microbial origin.  Unlike natural or bio-based surfactants, these surfactants are produced using non-chemical means with fully renewable raw materials.  These biosurfactants are 100% bio-based, fully biodegradable, and often have a lowered CO₂ footprint than traditional surfactants due to mild production conditions. Some of the most prominent examples of current biosurfactants are rhamnolipids and sophorolipids.  These surfactants consist of hydrophilic sugar head groups and hydrophobic alkyl residues.  Evonik pioneered to produce both biosurfactants in consistent composition and quality on a commercial scale using non-GMO and 100% renewable feedstocks with mild fermentation processes.  These biosurfactants are fully biodegradable, allowing for a complete sustainability cycle that meets the standards for today’s consumers.
Although a bias still exists that greener surfactants are not always so effective as traditional counterparts, laboratory test results indicate that in many cases these biosurfactants exhibit properties and performance comparable to those of synthetic benchmarks.  Moreover, it is often possible to produce more cost-effective formulations when using biosurfactants at lower active levels or synergies with secondary components.
This presentation will focus on some generic and unique applications and comparisons to traditional, less desirable solutions. 
Stephanie Hochstetler, M.S. | Chemist, Evonik Corporation

Panelists coming soon!

There is increasing concern about the overall environmental impact of consumer products from the end users as well as the upstream producers of these products. Raw material suppliers, formulators and retailers are seeking ways to evaluate the true sustainability of their products across their whole life cycle. To help address this, Croda has made a public commitment to complete LCAs for our top 100 ingredients by 2030. This will help to fully understand the impact of our products beyond our factory gate, delivering greater transparency throughout the supply chain. An LCA study assesses the environmental impacts of a product throughout its entire life cycle (cradle-to-grave). This involves assessing the upstream procurement of our raw materials; the core production processes; and the downstream impacts associated with product use and its end-of life. This means going beyond just assessing the carbon footprint (and its associated global warming potential) and taking into consideration other environmental impacts such as water and resource depletion, land use, ozone depletion, acidification and eco-toxicity. We will be discussing the impacts associated with laundry care, specifically fabric protection, and explaining how these assessments can help deliver value to our customers and consumers.
Scott Jaynes | Research and Technology Manager, Croda, Inc.

Panelists coming soon!

Introduction Quantitative PCR (qPCR) provides a rapid and accurate methodology for the detection and quantification of bacteria or viruses following the application of a test item, such as a disinfectant or biocide. Compared to traditional microbiology, qPCR offers a non-subjective alternative to quantification, however qPCR amplifies the total genomic content, rather than only viable organisms. This may result in an over-estimation of microbial concentration during analysis of bactericidal activity. One approach for improving the accuracy of qPCR assays is the inclusion of propodium monoazide (PMA) prior to DNA extraction. PMA is a light-activated dye that binds to DNA of compromised cells and prevents amplification during the PCR process. The method presented here supports a products development by providing quantitative data that endorses bactericidal claims. Method To evaluate the impact of PMA on bacterial quantification, individual Staphylococcus aureus (7.48 log10 CFUmL-1) and Escherichia coli (6.86 log10 CFUmL-1) inoculums were subjected to three different commercial cleaning products (shampoo, floor cleaner and bleach) for 10 minutes, followed by presence or absence of PMA treatment and qPCR detection. Obtained Cq values were compared to a species-specific standard curve generated from 10-fold dilutions of known quantities. Results Following qPCR, significant differences in S. aureus quantifications were noted between PMA-treated and untreated groups in the negative control (no product) and product 2 (floor cleaner) groups. No significant differences in viable-only quantification were noted between the negative control, product 1 and product 2. No genomic material was identified from product 3 (bleach) in either PMA-treated or untreated groups. For E. coli, significant reductions were noted in viable-only counts between the negative control and products 1 and 3. No difference was noted for product 2. Discussions Data from this study demonstrates that quantification by qPCR may over-estimate relevant (i.e viable) bacterial concentrations, which is dependent on test item and pathogen of interest. Amplification of total genomic content could also under-represent bactericidal activity of a product. Incorporation of PMA into future qPCR assays would aid in improving accuracy of quantification data and reduce the potential of false-positive results. This approach could be used to determine viricidal activity.
Jessica Sanders | Senior Scientist – Commercial Manager, Perfectus Biomed