International Organization for Standardization

Cosmetics - Microbiology - Evaluation of the antimicrobial protection of a cosmetic product - First Edition
 N 11930

Annotation

General

This International Standard comprises:

— a preservation efficacy test;

— a procedure for evaluating the overall antimicrobial protection of a cosmetic product which is not considered low risk, based on a risk assessment described in ISO 29621.

This International Standard provides a procedure for the interpretation of data generated by the preservation efficacy test or by the microbiological risk assessment, or both.

Preservation efficacy test

This test is a reference method that is to be used to evaluate the preservation of a cosmetic formulation. It applies to cosmetic products in the market place.

This test is not required for those cosmetic products for which the microbiological risk has been determined to be low (see Annex A and ISO 29621).

This test is primarily designed for water-soluble or water-miscible cosmetic products and can require adaptation, for example to test products in which water is the internal phase. The test described in this International Standard involves, for each test micro-organism, placing the formulation in contact with a calibrated inoculum, and then measuring the changes in the micro-organism count at set time intervals for a set period and at a set temperature.

NOTE This test can be used as a guideline to develop an in-house method during the development cycle of cosmetic products. In this case, the test can be modified or extended, or both, for example to make allowance for prior data and different variables (microbial strains, media, incubation conditions exposure time, etc.). Compliance criteria can be adapted to specific objectives. During the development stage of cosmetic products, other methods, where relevant, can be used to determine the preservation efficacy of formulations.