TITLE:
New Insights in the Biodegradability and the Ecotoxicological Effects of Solar Products Containing Mineral and Chemical UV-Filters on Marine Zoo- and Phytoplanktons: An in silico and in vitro Study
AUTHORS:
Jean-Claude Hubaud, Karim Mekideche, Jean-Eric Branka, Luc Lefeuvre
KEYWORDS:
UV-Filters, Chemical UV-Filter, Biodegradability, Ecotoxicology, in silico, in vitro, Zooplankton, Phytoplankton, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, Acartia tonsa
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Cosmetics, Dermatological Sciences and Applications,
Vol.14 No.1,
March
28,
2024
ABSTRACT: Background: Cosmetic formulations, and particularly solar products which contain
mineral and chemical UV-filters, are often suspected of causing harmful effects
on marine fauna and flora. After the publication of our work in 2019 concerning
the ecotoxicological effects of such formulations on corals (Seriatopora hystrix), we here provide
some new information about the biodegradability and the ecotoxicological
effects of these products on marine zoo- and phytoplankton. Therefore, we
choose to realize in silico and in vitro studies of the biodegradability
of several solar products but also to evaluate the ecotoxicological effects of
these products on one phytoplankton, i.e. Phaeodactylum tricornutum, and one
zooplankton, i.e. Acartia tonsa, of a great importance for
sea species survival (notably as sources of food). Materials and methods: Two different approaches were used to study the biodegradability of the tested
products: One in silico method and an in vitro one. 2 solar products were
involved in the in silico study which
consisted in the determination of the degradation factor (DF) of each
ingredient of the tested formulas in order to finally obtain their estimated
biodegradability percentage. Already available data concerning each ingredient
coupled to a computer model developed with one of our partners were used to
achieve this study. The in vitro study involved 8 formulas containing UV-filters and was led by following the
OECD 301 F guidelines. Ecotoxicological studies of 7 of the formulas containing
UV-filters were for their part realized by following the ISO 10253 guidelines
for the experiments led with Phaeodactylum
tricornutum, and the ISO 14669 guidelines for the experiments led with Acartia tonsa. In these studies, the
effect of each tested product on crustaceans’ mortality and algal growth
inhibition was assessed. Results: The in silico study predicted that formulas containing chemical
UV-filters display a high biodegradability (superior to the threshold value of
60% given by the OECD 301 F guidelines). In the in vitro part of our work, the 8 tested formulas showed a
biodegradability slightly inferior to the one predicted in the in silico experiments. Therefore, in
order to evaluate if these calculated biodegradability value could have
significant harmful effects on zoo- or phytoplankton, we studied the effect of
our products regarding the growth inhibition on Phaeodactylum tricornutum and the mortality on Acartia tonsa. In this last part of the study, all the tested
products were classified as “non ecotoxic” following an internal classification
based on Part 4 entitled “Environmental Hazards” of Globally Harmonized System
of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS), 9th edition
(2021). Conclusions: These results are notably in line with those
published by our teams in 2019 on the effects of solar cosmetic products on
corals and seem to confirm that formulas containing mineral and chemical
UV-filters can be daily used without displaying significant noxious effects on
marine fauna and flora.