Caracterização, tratamento e viabilidade de aplicação de argilas provenientes de resíduos de extração de areia na área cosmética

Abstract

Clays are natural, earthy, fine-grained materials that exhibit plasticity in contact with water. The applicability of the clays in the cosmetic area depends on their chemical and mineralogical composition, but these materials have huge bioburden and the control of this bioburden is necessary before applying them in the cosmetic area. Moreover, due to the variability in their composition, studies that evaluate the chemical composition and the applicability of the clays are necessary. The present work consisted in the characterization of four different types of clays, originated from the sand extraction residue of mining activities in the hinterland of São Paulo state, Brazil, using X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, particle size distribution by laser dispersion, surface area evaluation, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and clay morphology evaluation. The bioburden of the clays was evaluated and two methods of decontamination were proposed. The clays were incorporated in hydrophilic gel and nonionic emulsion under an accelerated stability test during 90 days, in which the samples were stored at a temperature of 20 ° C ± 2 ° C, 2 ° C ± 2 ° C and 45 ° C ± 2 ° C, with the respective standards (emulsion and gel without clay). The organoleptic characteristics of the formulations, as well as pH, spreadability, viscosity, centrifugation resistance and particle diameter were evaluated during the test. The formulations with the best results in these tests were submitted to the in vivo dermal irritability test. The in vitro cytotoxic potential of clays was evaluated by MTT, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide, and Giemsa. The XRD characterization allowed to verify the presence of kaolinite and illite, as the main mineralogical phases identified in the samples, besides silicon as the mineral in the highest concentration for all the samples. The average particle diameter ranged from 3.6 to 24.1 μm and the surface area of 22.8 to 38.57 m2/g, and Clay III showed the highest surface area value. The proposed decontamination methods, using a combination of alcohol 70 ° GL and dry heat at 120 ° C and dry heat alone, promoted reduction of the bioburden of the samples, adjusting the clays to the limits required for cosmetics application. The results obtained in the evaluation of the stability of the formulations, under the conditions tested, showed that the clays changed parameters such as viscosity, spreadability and particle diameter. The pH value did not change with the addition of the clays and there were no changes after centrifugation of the samples. Among the studied vehicles, the gels presented greater stability than the emulsions, in front of the conditions tested and the evaluated parameters. Thus, the gels containing the four types of clay and the standard gel were chosen for evaluation of dermal irritability in vivo. None of the samples induced irritation in volunteers under the conditions tested. In the cytotoxicity test all the clays showed a reduced cytotoxic activity. Considering the tests performed, the clays studied have a promising activity regarding applicability in the cosmetic industry.