Pollution and its impact on the skin have recently become the main topic at all important cosmetic events, and products claiming to protect the skin from pollution effects are a major trend in the cosmetic and personal care industry
Until recently, the environmental influences on the skin being studied were mainly the harmful effects of UVB and UVA radiation, then later the influence of IR emission and other factors such as the influence of cigarette smoke.1 The deterioration of skin by repeated and long-term exposure to noxious substances has been mainly studied in the field of occupational health where such contacts have been proved to cause allergies, atopic eczema and other skin diseases. But of course, the skin does not only get in contact with such substances at special work places, potentially harmful substances are all around us and they touch our skin at every moment.
Since the environmental pollution caused by industry and traffic, especially in the so-called megacities (e.g. Beijing, London, Mumbai, LA, just to mention a few examples) is constantly and dramatically increasing, the awareness of the consumers of this topic and products related to it has risen by the same measure. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than half of the world’s population lives in an urban environment. Most people today are aware that air pollution poses a serious concern for human health with increased risk of cancer and pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases. People have also become more concerned about their food, reflected by the ever-growing trend towards organically grown groceries and special forms of nutrition, e.g. vegetarianism, veganism. It is only natural that in the consumers’ perception, pollution is also harmful to the skin, backed by new scientific publications2 that have subsequently been cited in consumer magazines.3, 4 It has been reported that consumers blame pollution as the second biggest cause for skin and hair problems (right after insufficient sleep). In some parts of the world (e.g. Russia or China), air pollution is perceived to have the highest impact on the skin condition, even worse than the effects of photo-ageing due to harmful UV radiation.5
The WHO currently measures the air quality in 1600 cities across 91 countries for their database.6 The basis of these measurements is the PM 2.5 level, the fine particulate matter from airborne and traffic-related pollution with a size up to 2.5 µm in diameter.5
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