Preservative Efficacy Test

Challenge Testing for Cosmetic Products

Why Should Preservative Efficiency Test Be Performed on Cosmetic Products?

It is an essential part of product information files, also known as the challenge test. In particular, it should be included in the cosmetic safety report.

Every cosmetic manufacturer is obliged to ensure that the quality and microorganism content of the product as it is purchased remain at a level that will not affect human health throughout the period of use.

Basically; The protective activity (Challenge) test is a test process in which the effectiveness of the protective system of cosmetic products and their reliability against various contaminations caused by the environment during the production process are determined.

With the preservative effectiveness test, the safety and effectiveness of cosmetic products throughout the shelf life is guaranteed.

How to Test the Protective Efficacy of Cosmetic Products?

The test is based on monitoring the presence of various pathogens when manufactured in a cosmetic product, after which a cosmetic product is intentionally inoculated with five different strains of microorganisms:

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 9027)
Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538)
Escherichia coli (ATCC 8739)
Candida albicans (ATCC 10231)
Aspergillus brasiliensis (ATCC 16404)

The preservative effectiveness of cosmetic products can be determined with the microorganism count performed on the 7th, 14th and 28th days.

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