Why is an ester used in cosmetics?
- A good solvent (can dissolve other substances- such as water and oil in a cosmetic)
- Not very sticky as it has a small oil layer (making it feel nice on the skin)
- Is very compatible with a variety of fats and oils
- Little skin irritation, and very safe oil ingredients
- No animal oil or fat used (meaning it is suitable for vegetarians)
Animal testing and cosmetics
Many of our products today are being animal tested. There are two sides of this argument and although animal testing may have been banned in the United Kingdom since 1998, worldwide companies such as ‘L’Oréal’ import their cosmetics into the UK having been tested in France (where the company is based). There is a bigger argument about testing cosmetics on animals, than other areas such as medicine. This is because many people believe that medicine improves health, but make-up has no benefit for it, if anything, decreases our health- by ruining our skin. So for this reason many people believe that animals are being treated unethically for no reason, and they do not have an opinion in what is happening to them. Sadly statistics show that 50% of animals die 2-3 weeks after they are tested on and 38,000 animals are tested on every year and that is only in European countries. Although the European Union attempted to ban all cosmetics products tested on animals in Europe, many people were against this ban. This is because they believe that by testing our products on animals, humans would be ‘safer’ and they would rather have cosmetics tested on animal than humans- as humans are cleverer and can understand more.
The benefits of animal testing:
- Products are safer and no need to put human health at risk
- Many animals can be tested on therefore there are more results
- Cosmetics can only be tested on a human once- as the side effects from the tested cosmetic can still be present
- Young animals may not understand that anything bad is happening to them as this is the life they are born into
- It may be cheaper for cosmetic companies as they may breed animals just for this purpose and therefore wouldn’t need to get more animals
The negatives of animals testing:
- Unethical to animals as we are harming them for no major reason
- Results aren’t reliable, as the cosmetic s may only be guaranteed to be safe for a small amount of time and in certain conditions and skin types.
- Causes severe side allergic reactions to animals
- Animals’ skin may not react the same way as human skin because they might have a different distribution of fine blood vessels.
- Animals do not have a say in their treatment
- Results of experiments can be meaningless because the stress the animal has to endure can affect the result.
(http://www.animalport.com/animal-testing/animal-testing-facts-figures.html) Graph above
The table above shows that in 2000 2,714,800 animals were tested on, the animal with the most numbers tested on being the mouse. The majority of animals tested on are small animals. This table may not have completely reliable, and a way I could have made the data more reliable is by looking at other sources for this information and averaging the data. Also this table isn’t very valid data, as the data is from the year 2000 and data may have been and effected over 10 years. Such as, cosmetic animal testing may have decreased as more humans are now being tested on and increased awareness over animal testing. For instance, one website claims that in 2006 animal testing the UK reached more than 3,000,000 animals a year and rodents account for 83% of these animals. So according to this data, animal testing is rising rapidly over the years. The reason for this could be because many females are becoming more self conscious about their appearance and the celebrity life. A poll took in 2009 states that 74% of women say that their self confidence is influenced by their appearance. So women care a lot about their appearance and therefore many would buy cosmetics. Also, the reason for animal testing rise could be because companies feel like they have to compete against other companies for a brand new cosmetic and they therefore have to test new ingredients and they have to see the results fast and sell new products quickly.
A lot of the animals tested on could be for no reason. This is because many of the experimentations from company to company are repeated, giving the same results and harming animals for no reason. Also, many of these animals have very different skin to humans so the results will vary. So, cosmetic companies can use the information from previous animal testing on ingredients made by other companies and not have to test ingredients again from knowing this data.
Many companies may claim that their company does not animal test on the packaging of products. This is misleading as the buyer will think that the product has not been animal tested when in actual fact, many of the ingredients the cosmetic company may be supplied with might have been tested by another company. So truth be told, a lot of people may never know if the company is telling the truth about their product as they never display where they bought the ingredients from and what the ingredients do.
Method
There were two experiments that I undertook. It is important to wear safety goggles/bandidos for both of the experiments.
Experiment 1: Reactions of dilute ethanoic acid
1. When ethanoic acid is put on yellow litmus paper, the litmus paper turns red. Meaning ethanoic acid is very acidic as the Ph is 1.
2. When a tube is filled with a 1/3 of dilute ethanoic acid and a piece of magnesium is added to the acid, a gas is being produced. The gas is hydrogen because when a lighted splint is put onto the test tube a ‘pop’ is heard.
3. When another tube with 1/3 of dilute ethanoic acid and a spatula of sodium hydrogen carbonate is added the solution bubbles.
4. Test the gas given off and repeat step 3 but with sodium carbonate.
Evaluation of experiment one:
This is experiment could have been more reliable. We could have repeating the experiment at least three times, because we could have produced an anomaly and not known so. Also, having repeated the test 3 times we could average the results and see what results came up the most- therefore being the correct result. For instance, if we repeated the litmus paper experiment, then we could see what the average colour that came up was, the colour ‘red’ could have been an anomaly. The test was valid because we used different tubes and pipettes so the results wouldn’t be affected. In the experiment I undertook we didn’t have time to do step 4 (Test the gas given off and repeat step 3 but with sodium carbonate) so to extend my research I could finish the experiment and also try with other acids, and compare the results.
Experiment 2: Making an ester
For this experiment a kettle is used to heat instead of a Bunsen burner, because ethanol is highly flammable. Also, the ethanoic acid used in this experiment concentrated (making the previous experiment safer as it was dilute) therefore there is a high safety risk because the concentrated acid will burn through skin if come in contact. So it was more important in this experiment to wear safety goggles/bandidos as contact with the eyes may cause blindness.
- Heat water in a kettle, then pour some boiling water into a 250cm³ beaker
- Leave water to rest and then add 2cm³ of ethanol into a test tube
- Add to the test tube, 1 drop of concentrated sulphuric acid (a catalyst- to push the reaction) and 1cm³ of concentrated ethanoic acid
- For 5 minutes, put the test tube into the beaker of hot water
- During this 5 minutes, get a 100cm³ beaker and half fill it with sodium carbonate solution
- When the 5 minutes are up, pour the contents of the test tube and stir well
- Smell the product in the beaker with care
The smell of the product was similar to that of nail polish remover. This is because ethanoic acid was used and that means the ester ethyl ethanoate was made.
Evaluation of experiment two
This experiment could have also been more reliable because we could have repeated the experiment, just in case it was anomaly. Also, it could have been more valid as I could have been more accurate in the amount of hot water added into the beaker or I could have used a timer to time the 5 minutes. To extend the research I could try using other acids to make different esters such as, octyl acetate (an orange scent), ethyl butyrate (a pineapple scent) and propyl acetate (a pear scent).
Cosmetic Products Questionnaire
Are cosmetics essential in your daily life?
1. yes 2.yes 3.yes 4.yes 5.yes 6.not sure 7.yes 8.yes 9.yes 10. not sure
Do you read the ingredients of a cosmetic before you buy it?
1.No 2.No 3. No 4. Sometimes 5.No 6.No 7.No 8.Yes 9.No 10.Sometimes
Do you get persuaded to buy a cosmetic product because of good advertisement?
1.yes 2.yes 3.yes 4.sometimes 5.yes 6.not sure 7.yes 8.yes 9. yes 10.sometimes
Would you still buy the cosmetics you own if you knew they were animal tested?
1.no 2.no 3.no 4.not sure 5.yes 6. no 7.no 8.not sure 9.no 10.no
Would you be willing to go without cosmetics if they were all being animal tested?
1.no 2.maybe 3.no 4.no 5.no 6.maybe 7.no 8.maybe 9.no 10.no
Are you aware that the claims companies say about their products aren’t always true?
1.no 2.yes 3.no 4.no 5.yes 6.no 7.no 8.no 9.yes 10.no
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Are cosmetics essential in your daily life?
The graph above shows that out of 10 people (5 females and 5 males) 8 people (the majority) believe that cosmetics are essential in their daily lives. Also, 2 people are not sure.
- Do you read the ingredients of a cosmetic before you buy it?
The graph above shows that 7 people (the majority) out of 10 don’t read the ingredients of a cosmetic before they buy it and only 1 person reads the ingredients. 2 people sometimes read the ingredients.
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Do you get persuaded to buy a cosmetic product because of good advertisement?
The graph above shows that 7 out of 10 people get persuaded by good advertisement to by a cosmetic product. 2 people sometimes get persuaded and 1 person is not sure.
- Would you still buy the cosmetics you own if you knew they were animal tested?
The above results show that the majority of the 10 people (7 people) would not buy the cosmetics they own if they knew they were animal testing. 1 person would still buy their cosmetics and 2 people aren’t sure.
- Would you be willing to go without cosmetics if they were all being animal tested?
The above graph shows that the majority of people (7 people) would not be willing to go without cosmetics if all cosmetics were animal tested, and 3 people might be willing to go without cosmetics.
- Are you aware that the claims companies say about their products aren’t always true?
This graph shows that 7 out of 10 people aren’t aware that the claims companies say about their products aren’t always true and 3 people are aware of this.
Evaluation & Conclusion
For the pervious experiments, there weren’t many results to evaluate, so it was best to do an opinion questionnaire to see what people think. I ask 5 females and 5 males so that the results can be more valid, as women may use cosmetics more than men and need them more.
The first questionnaire question ‘Are cosmetics essential in your daily life?’ 8 of 10 people answered yes and 2 people weren’t sure. This means that for the majority of the people questioned use cosmetics often. Personally I believe that because shampoos, hair products and perfume are one of the many items listed as ‘cosmetics’ the majority of people would consider cosmetics as essential in their daily life. For the 2 people who answered not sure, they may not know the groups of products listed as cosmetics or maybe they are simply not sure because they don’t use cosmetics every day.
The second question ‘Do you read the ingredients of a cosmetic before you buy it?’ 7 out of 10 people answered no, 2 answered sometimes, and 1 answered yes. Many people trust what is on the label of the product, describing the product, and they often don’t know what is actually in it. So us as the buyer trust companies to provide the needs of what the product claims, and we sometimes miss the fact that some of the ingredients in the products might be harmful or are animal tested.
The third question ‘Do you get persuaded to buy a cosmetic product because of good advertisement?’ 7 people said yes, 2 people said sometimes and 1 person said not sure. This shows that a lot of people may buy a product just because possibly, it may be introduced by a celebrity. Therefore, many people may assume that if someone who is rich and well known is saying something about a product, then the product is thought to be good as they are recommending it and they can afford more expensive products. Also, linking to what I said about the previous question, cosmetic companies compete for new products that do new things, but they may exaggerate what the product does.
As regard to the animal testing in cosmetic issue, 7 people said they wouldn’t by a cosmetic product of they knew it was animal tested, 2 people said they weren’t sure and one person said yes . This means that the majority of the people questioned are against animal testing; however there is a change in opinion when they were asked whether they would go without cosmetics completely if animal testing was the only option. 7 people said they wouldn’t go without cosmetics and 3 people said they might. This could show that humans rely too much on cosmetics and the reason they would not buy a product if it is known to be animal testing is because there are alternatives such as human testing and using ingredients that have already been tested on. My opinion is that although some people argue that it is not ethical to test on animals, I believe that it is more unethical to test on human beings as some ingredients may be very deadly to humans and causing anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction which can possibly cause death).
For the last survey question ‘Are you aware that claims companies make about their products aren’t always true?’ 70% of the people asked said no and 30% of people said yes. This means that many people believe and trust what the cosmetic company says about their product and it is not until they try the cosmetic that they will find out that the claims aren’t true. A way that I can extend my research to challenge the claims the manufacturer’s say about their product is by making an experiment on shampoo on a group of people. For this experiment a well known and tested anti-dandruff shampoo can be used without the knowledge of the content to the people trying it. Another less well known ‘cheap’ shampoo (also without the knowledge of the contents) can be given to another group of people. To make this test valid, the same amount of people in each group should try the shampoo, also they need to use the same amount of shampoo and at the same time, and use the shampoo for the same duration. Also, this test is reliable as, for instance, 15 people in each group trying the shampoo, so the results can be averaged and compared between the two groups easily with less anomalous results (as we can pick them out).
My conclusion overall is that from the topic ‘esters’ I have learnt that esters are an organic compound that is formed from an organic acid and alcohol and they are used as fragrances and flavourings in many cosmetic products and food. There are many different types of esters, such as: isoamyl acetate (with a banana odor) ethyl ethanoate (with a nail polish odour) Octyl acetate (orange odor). Esters are an easy way to obtain a lot of distinctive fragrances at one time and can help the cosmetic producer save money and time as they would be mass making esters. I also learnt that an ester can be used in an emollient as a solvent, which means it can dissolve water and oil together.
My conclusion for the topic of ‘cosmetics and animal testing’ is that many people would argue that animal testing for cosmetics is unnecessary, but as I have discovered through my research and my questionnaire, cosmetics are a big part of our everyday life. They keep us hygienic and attractive and therefore increase our self confidence and appearances to other people. Many people are against animal testing, but if it was the only option available for us to have cosmetics, they might think otherwise. There are alternatives to animal testing, such as human testing- but that would also create a big argument. My opinion is that humans are cleverer and therefore know and feel the effect of what is happening to them and it will breach their human rights. So if the option was between animals being tested on and humans being tested on I would choose animals tested on with less doubt. However, many people may be against animals being tested on for a reason that because animals do not have a say in what is going to happen to them, unlike humans. Many humans volunteer for experiments to gain money, but some animals are bred and born into a life of cruelty that they can only know and they do not benefit from these experiments at all. There is also an option of using ingredients that we already know, but when there is a rising demand in new products and competition in the market, new ingredients have to be introduced and tested. Unfortunately, humans always want the best thing, this will benefit them but others may struggle.
