News. Cosmetics, Fragrances, Food Ingredients. Results to Dye for in the Palm of Your Hand. Analytical solutions in the laboratory

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1 Cosmetics, Fragrances, Food Ingredients Analytical solutions in the laboratory 10 News Results to Dye for in the Palm of Your Hand Dosing powdered dyes manually can compromise operator safety and cause airborne contamination. A leading hair colorant producer is achieving reproducible results with a hand-held powder-dispensing device designed to improve operator safety and eliminate clean-up time. A hair color manufacturer s shade palette depends on the precise formulation of ingredients, including dyes, present in their recipes. For accuracy and repeatability, components must be dosed with pristine accuracy. Handling aggressive chemicals A world leading hair color producer tests colors repeatedly. Operators use spatulas to weigh-in powdered dyes on balances placed in specially designed safety cabinets. Such fine powders can easily become airborne, presenting inhalation and cross contamination risks. Therefore, R&D and production divisions wanted to minimize the time spent managing spills and trying to prevent airborne contamination. They were also keen to establish a method for tracking the addition of ingredients in order to ensure that no component gets missed as this would require reworking the entire batch of dye. Assessing the weighing process Essentially, operators weighed-in each powdered component until the formulation was complete. Components were weighed at every step to ensure the 2 % tolerance limit of each individual component was not exceeded. Operators checked the totals on the formulation printouts before dissolving and mixing the compounds to create the desired shade. Evaluation of the company s needs, using the support of METTLER TOLEDO s Good

2 Powder Dispensing Sample Container Flexible system for connecting typical sample containers to the dosing head Dosing Head Precise dosing of free-flowing substances, with RFID chip for traceable records. Typical target dose > 0.5 mg Weighing Practice (GWP ), identified an XP precision balance as the perfect match for their process accuracy requirements. The balance also has the built-in SmartTrac dosing guide, which provides a visual aid to help operators dose each component to target. A printer and laboratory software fulfilled their demands for traceability and process security. Safe, accurate manual dosing Despite using the correct balance, the problems surrounding the critical dosing step and the risk of contamination was not solved. For this, a complete new solution had to be designed; a handheld powder dispenser. The Handheld Powder Dispenser (HPD) repeatedly doses small amounts of powdered substances while minimizing spillage risks and airborne contamination. Today, the HPD brings convenience, safety and ease-of-use to the company s manual powder dispensing work. As sample containers can be easily connected to the dosing head, accurate dosing is now achieved without spills, improving safety and eliminating clean-up time. A separate dosing head is used for each dye, so there is no risk of cross contamination and the powdered dyes always remain enclosed to provide a higher level of operator safety. As it is handheld, HPD is also particularly convenient for use in the company s safety cabinet, which also houses their new balance. With this new solution from METTLER TOLEDO, the company can easily achieve the shine and colors their customers desire. Text: Julia Schenk Analytical Weighing Product Manager Publisher Mettler-Toledo AG Laboratory Division Im Langacher CH-8606 Greifensee, Switzerland Production LAB Division Marketing Global MarCom Switzerland Subject to technical changes. Mettler-Toledo AG 02/15 Printed in Switzerland. 2 METTLER TOLEDO Cosmetics, Fragrances, Food Ingredients 10

3 Minimum Weight Proves Critical for Dosing Cream Samples A UK company makes protein-based therapeutic creams for treating scars and damaged skin tissue. The XPE26 microbalance ensures accurate cream dosing with differential weighing. In their differential weighing application, the company first weighs a 6 mm long applicator stick. A target weight of 5 mg of scar-reducing cream is dosed onto the stick and the gross weight noted. The cream is then wiped onto an artificial membrane for analysis. The stick is reweighed and the net weight used to determine the actual amount of cream dosed. However, with some of their analytical results not as expected, the company contacted METTLER TOLEDO to determine if their dosing method was providing them with the necessary level of accuracy. Minimum weight determination When weighing out small samples, the minimum weight value of a balance becomes a critical factor, below which, the accuracy of the balance cannot be guaranteed. In addition to the minimum weight a safety factor is often applied in order to identify the correct balance for weighing in small sample volumes for a given application. METTLER TOLEDO recommended applying a safety factor of 3 to the minimum weight value of the XPE26 micro-analytical balance, increasing it from 1.4 to 4.2 mg. With the XPE26, the company can now rest assured that their target sample weights of 5 mg meet their process accuracy requirements. Text: Simon Taylor Analytical Balances Product Manager XPE26 micro balance METTLER TOLEDO Cosmetics, Fragrances, Food Ingredients 10 3

4 Sensitive Pipetting Treat Your Senses to a Culinary Break Which flavor components make your favorite food so irresistible? What are the links between those components and your sensory system? Recent experiments are looking for the flavors associated with the brain receptors that provide enhanced perception of pleasure. For such sensitive research, the best pipetting techniques and pipettes are a must. Research aiming to find the links between flavor & fragrance compounds and the receptors in the human brain is still at its early stages. Yet, the expectations of the flavor and fragrance industry are high: A near future where compounds identified as pleasure generators will be enhanced to stimulate the perception of delight in our brain. Components volatility: The key to our senses Several papers and books investigate the role of volatile and biogenic volatile organic compounds found in foods. These two classes of compounds play an important role in the perception of odor and flavor and, ultimately, the enjoyment of certain foods. As an example, in the paper Complexity of Coffee Flavor: A Compositional and Sensory Perspective, Sunarharum et al discuss the volatile and non-volatile components that contribute to coffee flavor and the lack of data surrounding the link between flavor components and sensory properties of coffee. Experiments conducted along these lines range from the very complex and low volume analysis of human receptors to determine how taste works, to the larger scale identification of flavor components in a food mixture for compositional analysis. Low-volume pipetting experiments Human receptor studies are often carried out as very low volume experiments between 10 and 50 µl and require low-volume pipetting. Pipettes, therefore, need to be very accurate, and careful attention must be paid to user technique when pipetting such small volumes. Since human receptor studies involve mammalian systems, solution buffers, and most associated liquids, are standard aqueous liquids and normal air displacement pipetting systems are recommended. For experiments carried out in triplicate, multi-channel pipetting systems increase the throughput of the system and make the workflow more efficient. Large-scale pipetting experiments A different volume and liquid up to 10 ml may be used for the larger scale experiments involved in the formulation and analysis of a completed flavor. Given that many components may be organic, both air displacement and positive displacement pipettes can be used. Such large differences emphasize the need for scientists to review their project requirements. It is important for scientists to understand the capabilities of their pipetting systems in order to be able to accurately transfer different liquid 4 METTLER TOLEDO Cosmetics, Fragrances, Food Ingredients 10

5 volumes containing different properties. The table below provides a broad guideline of the types of METTLER TOLEDO Rainin pipettes to be considered when working with a variety of samples. When working with changeable components, such as flavors and fragrances, sample handling becomes crucial to experiment accuracy and repeatability. By using the right pipette in the correct way, researchers get closer to unveiling the mysteries of our senses. Text: Murray Anderson, RAININ Marketing Head Pipet Lite XLS+ family The right pipette for your application Volume range Sample solution Manual Systems Electronic systems High volume samples ml Viscous, Organic Solvent, Extreme AutoRep S AutoRep E ml Non-viscous, Aqueous, Ambient AutoRepS Pipet X 1-20 ml Viscous, Organic Solvent, Extreme AutoRep S AutoRep E 1-20 ml Non-viscous, Aqueous, Ambient Pipet Lite XLS, AutoRepS Pipet X, E4 XLS Medium volume samples µl Viscous, Organic Solvent, Extreme PosD, AutoRepS AutoRep E µl Non-viscous, Aqueous, Ambient Pipet Lite XLS E4 XLS Low volume samples µl Viscous, Organic Solvent, Extreme PosD µl Non-viscous, Aqueous, Ambient Pipet Lite XLS E4 XLS Micro volume samples < 10 µl Viscous, Organic Solvent, Extreme PosD < 10 µl Non-viscous, Aqueous, Ambient Pipet Lite XLS E4 XLS METTLER TOLEDO Cosmetics, Fragrances, Food Ingredients 10 5

6 Thermomechanical Analysis Straight, curly or wavy Avoid Surprises with Hair Products Nowadays, natural protein or keratin treatment is used to straighten hair, stop it from frizzing, and make it look shinier. In order to be fully aware of possible adverse effects and to create a safe treatment, thermomechanical analysis is an excellent tool to characterize the mechanical and physical properties of hair. Human hair is a natural fiber composed of keratin, a protein containing a high concentration of sulfur. The keratin fibers of the cortex, forming a regular structure of compressed long chains, make the hair resistant to tear. Elasticity and hydrophilic properties are also important physical properties of hair. Hair treatments are commonly used to obtain a desired appearance, shape or texture. However, treatments can cause damage to the hair on a molecular level resulting in hair that looks dry, thin and weak. Thermomechanical Analysis (TMA) measures the expansion and shrinkage behavior of materials as a function of time or temperature while they are subjected to a defined force. TMA can be very useful for characterizing the structure and physical and mechanical properties of hair. Such insights are essential for the development of innovative hair products. Characterization of untreated and treated hair Two different hairs, an untreated, natural hair and a natural hair that had been subjected to a shine and bond hair treatment, were measured in tension mode up to 230 C. The hair samples were compared with regard to shrinkage and expansion behavior and thermal stability. The untreated hair was washed with a cleaning shampoo, rinsed with water and hairdryer dried. The treated hair received a perm solution and a cream intended to increase the elasticity and stretching properties of the hair. The hair was then rinsed in water and an enriched moisturizing mask applied. This was later also rinsed with water. Lastly, the hair was dried and ironed to achieve voluminous straight hair with a smooth look. Figure 1 shows the TMA curves of natural, non-treated hair and cosmetically treated hair up to 140 C and illustrates the shrinkage behavior of natural (blue curve) and treated hair (red curve). Both hair samples shrink up to about 110 C due to drying. For natural hair, this amounts to about 0.7% of the original TMA/SDTA 1 6 METTLER TOLEDO Cosmetics, Fragrances, Food Ingredients 10

7 sample length and about 1.0% for treated natural hair. We can conclude from this, that after the shine-bond therapy, the results show a small difference in the shrinkage value. In Figure 2, the curves are displayed from 130 to 240 C. They show that decomposition begins above 220 C and that the hairs then rapidly tear. In this case, the mean value of the onset of melting calculated for natural hair was about 223 C and for treated, natural hair 226 C. The thermal stability of the treated natural hair is greater than the non-treated natural hair confirming the positive effect of this particular hair treatment. Text: Matthias Wagner Thermal Analysis product Manager Figure 1: Shrinkage behavior of untreated and treated hair. Figure 2: Decomposition behavior of natural (blue) and treated hair (red). METTLER TOLEDO Cosmetics, Fragrances, Food Ingredients 10 7

8 Laboratory Automation Anne Swapped her Journal for LabX Be Next in Automating Your Worklflow Anne is a Laboratory Manager whose lab performs a wide variety of analyses, mostly for quality control purposes. Recently, Anne was tasked with finding a way to automate these analyses, optimize operators time and ensure traceability and compliance with the rising regulations. Anne concluded that the key needs were related to integration, either of instruments, systems, or reports, and automation of analyses, workflows, and data. She decided to adopt LabX in her laboratory to address these challenges. Today, her instruments are connected, methods started with just one click and lab journals replaced with a secure database.

9 Tailored set up Develop and implement SOP compliant application methods ready for use on the relevant instrument. Define the roles of individual users and set-up the daily task list. Smooth, error-free workflow On the instrument, step by step guidance directs the operator. All work is ensured to be in accordance with internal SOPs Full data management All information is automatically stored in a secure database to ensure traceability. See, store or print results in a customized report at any time. Power Your Bench with LabX Software Instrument connectivity LabX connects Mettler Toledo instruments to a single software. A unique interface means less training and more efficiency. Learn more a bout LabX

10 Product Highlight LabX Titration Power Your Titration Bench Titration joins the LabX family. Connect your METTLER TOLEDO instruments to LabX software and benefit from simplified operation, efficient method editing with the graphical layout, fast sample series modifications and tailored reports. LabX uniform software and interface means less training and also helps to increase your efficiency. Workbench Each instrument connected to LabX has its own workbench. It offers all the components needed to run your daily tasks and the tools to monitor your sample series and results. Flexible set-up LabX can be installed as single software or as a distributed system. Build up the system that suits your need and have access from any PC to LabX and your instruments in the laboratory. Single Software LabX connects your titrators, balances, density meters and refractometers, melting point instruments and Quantos systems. This means less training and also helps increase your efficiency METTLER TOLEDO Cosmetics, Fragrances, Food Ingredients 10

11 Worry-free Weighing with High Capacity Microbalances Micrograms of valuable and expensive materials are often weighed in the lab. Dosing into a larger container can reduce the minimum amount of sample weighed. However, a high capacity balance is needed in order to do so. The new XPE56 and XPE26 micro-analytical balances deliver high capacity coupled with minimum sample weights as low as 1.4 mg to save valuable material and still achieve maximum accuracy. Worry-free weighing The StaticDetect feature immediately warns if any relevant electrostatic charge is detected. StatusLight, a light on the balance s terminal, indicates if the balance is ready for weighing. Safe for operators The draft shield can be opened automatically for ergonomic left or right handed dosing, helping to speed up weighing processes. Draft shield and weighing pan fully dismantle for easy cleaning. Secure dosing With USP minimum weight as low as 1.4 mg and a capacity of up to 52 g, direct dosing into a tare container saves time and precious sample. The Ergo- Clips container holder makes dosing even easier. METTLER TOLEDO Cosmetics, Fragrances, Food Ingredients 10 11

12 Know-How Straightforward Routine Testing Minimize Risks and Costs Testing laboratory instruments periodically is not only a way of complying with regulations but also the key to obtaining accurate and reproducible results. Routine testing can be, however, a tedious and complex task. Our whitepapers provide you with recommendations about when and how to perform a routine testing on your instruments among other good practice tips! Step-by-step guidance for eased instrument routine testing Balances Pipettes Moisture Analyzers Mettler-Toledo AG Laboratory Division Im Langacher CH-8606 Greifensee, Switzerland For more information Local contact: