By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
Nanoparticles used in sunscreens and cosmetics may be harmful to the environment, according to U.S. scientists who have been studying the effects of nanos on living organisms.
Two separate studies, by researchers at the University of Toledo and at Utah State University and the University of Utah, found that the nanoparticles had powerful harmful effects on bacteria and a certain type of beneficial soil microbes.
The findings, released this week, were reported at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Salt Lake City. They are likely to fuel debate over the safe use of nanoparticles and concerns that consumers lack important information about the nano-engineering behind hundreds of personal care products already on the market.
“We have no assurance that they’re effective and we have no assurance that they’re safe either,” said Ian Illuminato, an advocate with Friends of the Earth, which wants the U.S. to require disclosure on products using nanoparticles.
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March 26th, 2009
By Harriet Blake
The world’s first “green” hair bleach may sound like a product for the Wicked Witch, but in reality it’s an environmentally friendly way to lighten hair, not just on the head but other parts of the body as well.
In search of a better and milder bleaching agent, Kenzo Koike, Ph.D., and other scientists, have come up with a “green” hair bleach based on an enzyme from a fungus called Basidiomycete ceriporiopsis that has been used to clean up pollutants in soil. It naturally degrades melanin and has the added benefit of fighting the effects of free radicals (responsible for making hair brittle and dull).
Koike made the announcement about the discovery Tuesday at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Salt Lake City. The Japanese scientist, who is with the Kao Corporation’s Beauty Research center in Tokyo, says his studies have focused on bleaching, not dyeing, hair.
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Related Topics: · American Chemical Society, dyed hair, hair bleach, hydrogen peroxide
