RT Journal Article
T1 Seaweed Cosmetics under the Spotlight of Sustainability
A1 Pagels, Fernando
A1 Arias Calvo, Ana
A1 Guerreiro, Adriana
A1 Guedes, A. Catarina
A1 Moreira Vilar, María Teresa
K1 Macroalgae
K1 Algae
K1 Fucus
K1 Green tea
K1 Antioxidant
K1 LCA
K1 Process simulation
AB Seaweeds represent a diverse and valuable source of cosmetic compounds such as vitamins, minerals, trace elements, amino acids, antioxidants, etc., with moisturizing, anti-inflammatory, and regenerative effects. The so-called “blue cosmetics” represent a line of products related to the use of natural active ingredients and an important market share in major international cosmetic brands. To be recognised as environmentally sustainable, it is essential to ensure that algae-derived products comply with environmentally sound harvesting, production, and extraction practices. In this work, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was used to carry out an environmental impact assessment of the processing of the brown algae extract from Fucus vesiculosus and its comparative profile with the most used antioxidants in cosmetics: vitamin C and green tea extracts. Considering an equivalent formulation in antioxidant content, the results showed that seaweed has the lowest environmental load while green tea extracts have the highest environmental impact. Furthermore, to further reduce emissions from seaweed processing, the use of renewable energy sources and the valorisation of biomass residues as fertilisers in a circular economy approach are proposed.
PB MDPI
YR 2022
FD 2022-10-30
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/38761
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/38761
LA eng
NO Pagels, F.; Arias, A.; Guerreiro, A.; Guedes, A.C.; Moreira, M.T. Seaweed Cosmetics under the Spotlight of Sustainability. Phycology 2022, 2, 374–383. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/phycology2040021
NO A PhD fellowship [SFRH/BD/136767/2018] for author F.P. was granted by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) under the auspices of Programa Operacional Capital Humano (POCH), supported by the European Social Fund and Portuguese funds (MECTES). This work was financially co-supported by the Galician Competitive Research Group (GRC ED431C 2017/29), Cross-disciplinary Research in Environmental Technologies (CRETUS Research Center, ED431E 2018/01), and by strategical funding from FCT (UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020) to CIIMAR.
DS Minerva
RD 30 abr 2026