AU748913B2

AU748913B2 - Use of fluorinated solvents for the formulation of hair lotions

Info

Publication number: AU748913B2
Application number: AU13411/99A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Benoit Lemaire; Philippe Mengal; Bernard Mompon; Michel Surbled
Original assignee: Extractive SA
Current assignee: Extractive SA
Priority date: 1997-11-26
Filing date: 1998-11-26
Publication date: 2002-06-13
Anticipated expiration: 2018-11-26
Also published as: FR2771287A1; CA2311784A1; FR2771287B1; EP1032357A1; WO1999026594A1; AU1341199A; JP2001523698A

Description

Use of fluorinated solvents for the formulation of hair lotions The invention relates to the field of the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry.

More precisely, the invention relates to hair lotions for cosmetic or pharmaceutical use.

Hair lotions are generally employed to stimulate the hair, remove dandruff and other impurities from the scalp, and to remove excess sebum secreted by the scalp. Certain hair lotions can also be used for therapeutic purposes. These lotions generally have specific actions.

Their formulation generally includes: a vehicle, most often made up of 30 to 500 ethanol, chosen for its antiseptic properties and its ability to rapidly evaporate; emollients, such as, for example, castor oil and its derivatives, which compensate for the dehydrating effect of the ethanol; coating polymers that make arranging one's hair easier; active anti-sebum, anti-dandruff, overgreasing or pharmaceutic substances.

Lotions intended to prevent hair loss may, in addition contain: vasodilatory compounds, such as, for example, extracts of capsicum, cinchona or nicotinic esters; biological extracts such as, for example, placental derivatives, amniotic liquid, mucopolysaccharides; panthenol or derived ethers (pantothenyl- ethyl ether) which would be factors for the growth of hair; amino-acids vitamin complexes.

Perfume substances, such as camphor or essential oils, colorants as well as stabilizers (anti-oxidants, pH correctors) can complement the basic composition of such hair lotions.

These lotions are generally presented in the form of a single phase or two phase liquid system. In the case of single phase systems, the various constituents of the lotion are dissolved or dispersed in water or in a water-alcohol mixture.

In the case of lotions with two liquid phases, de-odorized light petroleum is added to the formulation. This particular feature enables one to add various lipophilic constituents sparingly soluble in the water/alcohol phase. The immiscibility of the light petroleum and the water or water/alcohol solutions leads to the formation of the two liquid phases.

As has already been made clear above, ethanol which is generally used as a vehicle in hair lotions, leads to a certain number of disadvantages.

Hence, when present at high concentrations (30 to it has a dehydrating action on the scalp which can lead to skin irritation. This aggressive effect must be neutralized by the addition of an emollient to the formulation.

Daily use of hair lotions containing alcohol leads to absorption of the alcohol through the skin, sometimes in large quantities. For obvious health reasons, this absorption of alcohol must be avoided.

Furthermore, certain religions condemn the absorption of alcohol, whether it be by oral consumption or absorption through the skin and therefore the use of perfumes and cosmetic products containing alcohol is forbidden to people practising these religions.

It should also be noted that the quantities of alcohol and petroleum in hair lotions are sufficiently large to lead to acute intoxication when such lotions are accidentally ingested, in particular by young children.

The light petroleum, fractions, also frequently used in the hair lotion formulations also have recognized toxicity. On frequent or prolonged contact with the skin, light petroleum fractions destroy the lipo-acid cutaneous coating and can cause dermatosis of variable seriousness with the risk of secondary allergy. The vapor is an irritant for mucous membranes. At high concentration, they exert a narcotic action on the central nervous system (headaches, dizziness, somnolence). Certain light petroleum products, officially called petroleum spirit A, petroleum spirit B and petroleum spirit C, have vapors rich in hexane and have been the source of serious polyneuritis, particularly in Japan and in certain European countries such as France. Accidental ingestion of these petroleum spirits are capable of causing serious hepato-digestive attacks and sometimes nervous troubles (coma, respiratory incidents) with serious prognoses. In addition, the possible presence of benzene in these solvents can have hematological implications.

The objective of this invention is to propose hair lotions which do not contain ethanol.

Another objective of this invention is to permit the manufacture of such lotions which also do not contain any light petroleum spirit.

These objectives are achieved thanks to the invention which relates to a hair lotion wherein said lotion contains a solvent including at least one totally or partially fluorinated hydrocarbon of general formula CnHmF 2 n+l-m-O-CpHqF2p+l-q in which n 1 to 20; m 0 to 2n+1; p 1 to 20; q 0 to 2p+l.

Such fluorinated solvents offer crucial advantages compared to traditional organic solvents such as ethanol, used in the formulation of hair lotions of the state of the technology.

In the first place, they are atoxic. Various toxicological studies notably concerned with perfluorinated alkanes and perfluorinated N-methyl morpholine have been carried out on rodents. These studies have demonstrated oral atoxicity even for doses as high as 10 g/kg, for point administration, or 2 g/kg/day for 4 weeks. The perfluorinated N-methyl morpholine produces, at doses of 0,1 ml, a slight reversible irritation of the ocular conjunctive tissues but without corneal damage. On the other hand, under the same conditions, the fluorinated alkanes do not cause any ocular irritation.

Furthermore, no skin irritation is observed for localized applications of 0.5 ml of fluorinated solvent.

Therefore, at the present time, there is no toxicological contra-indication whatsoever for the fluorinated solvents proposed by the invention for use in the context of hair lotions.

The fluorinated solvents proposed by the invention are in addition without odor or only have a slight odor. Therefore they can be integrated into hair lotion formulations without risk of masking possible perfumes.

Furthermore, it should also be noted that these fluorinated solvents are lipophilic compounds. Hence they are capable, on the one hand, of solubilizing the lipophilic constituents in the formulations and, on the other hand of contributing to the removal of sebum.

In addition, these fluorinated solvents are of interest since they are chemically inert and do not react with any of the usual constituents of cosmetic formulations. They are volatile compounds which, after evaporation, leave no trace whatsoever.

Finally, they do not present any risk to the ecosystem.

According to a preferred variant, said solvent is chosen from the group constituted by methyl-perfluorobutyl ether, perfluorinated octane and perfluorinated nonane.

It will be understood that the hair lotions according to the invention will include a fluorinated compound as described above or a mixture of such fluorinated compounds.

The invention will be more easily understood from the description that follows of non-limitative embodiments of it.

Example 1 The deodorized light petroleum of a commercial hair lotion is replaced by a mixture of 50% of- methylperfluorobutyl ether (CH 3

-O-C

4

F

9 with n 1, m 3, p 4 and q 25% of perfluorinated octane and 25% of perfluorinated nonane.

The methyl-perfluorobutyl ether enables the perfume substances to be easily solubilized. The perfluorinated octane and nonane are used because their volatility is less than that of methyl-perfluorobutyl ether. They prevent to rapid an evaporation of the organic phase when the lotion is being applied and enable the refreshing sensation that is a consequence of evaporation, to last longer.

Example 2 One volume of a mixture of 50% ethylperfluorobutyl ether (C 2

H

5

-O-C

4

F

9 with n 2, m 5, p 4 and q 0) and 50% perfluoro-octane is added to eight volumes of an aqueous solution containing water soluble active ingredients necessary for hair care. 0.1% of a mixture of essential oils of cypress, the tea tree, chamomile and lavender, intended to perfume the composition and to provide complementary hair care, is added to this mixture.

Example 3 One volume of a mixture of 50% propylperfluorobutyl ether (C 3

H

7

-O-C

4

F

9 with n 3, m 7, p 4 and q 0) and 50% perfluoro-octane is added to eight volumes of an aqueous solution containing water soluble active 6 ingredients necessary for hair care. 0.1% of a mixture of essential oils of cypress, the tea tree, chamomile and lavender, intended to perfume the composition and to provide complementary hair care, is added to this mixture.

Claims

1. Hair lotion wherein said lotion contains a solvent including at least one hydrofluoro ether of general formula CnHmF 2 n+1-m-O-CpHqF 2 p+l-q in which n 1 to 20, m 0 to 2n+l; p 1 to 20; q 0 to 2 p+l.

2. Lotion according to Claim 1, wherein said solvent contains methyl-perfluorobutyl ether.

3. Lotion according to Claim 1, wherein said solvent contains ethyl-perfluorobutyl ether.

4. Lotion according to Claim 1, wherein said solvent contains propyl-perfluorobutyl ether.

5. Lotion according to Claim 1 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Examples 1 to 3.