Water is an essential ingredient in many personal care products, and its quality can determine the quality of your products. If you are not testing your water systems regularly you could miss harmful organisms.

With water being an essential ingredient in many home and personal care products, its quality can determine the quality of your products. If you are not testing your water systems regularly you could miss lurking harmful organisms like Burkholderia cepacia (B. cepacia). Since B. cepacia is a waterborne microorganism, this contaminant can be a reoccurring problem in your facility. Lack of data regarding the state of control of your water system poses a potential risk of missing objectionable microbial contamination getting into your products. Routine testing paired with accurate microbial identification of environmental isolates are essential because it catalogs the microorganisms that are resident or transient in your facility. Although water system monitoring is not required in cosmetics, water remains one of the top contamination sources found in manufacturing, so it is important that you are testing your system using validated methods on a regular basis.

Microorganism species belonging to the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) are opportunistic pathogens that have caused consumer illnesses and product recalls issued regulatory bodies. Water-based products that have been notably affected by Bcc-related recalls, include sanitizers, mouthwashes, skin creams, wipes, and baby products. Bcc is especially troublesome because of its abilities to resist preservatives and grow in unfavorable environments. One Bcc species, Burkholderia multivorans, can grow well in low-nutrient environments such as distilled water and can also form biofilms.  Recently, the FDA found B. multivorans was detected in preserved nasal spray prior to release. Two batches of the spray were discovered to be contaminated during microbial testing. Additional lots contained Bcc as well, though they previously had tested negative. The manufacturer determined that bacterial growth was initially inhibited by the preservative but then overcame it and flourished. Detailed testing identified the exact Bcc species responsible for the contamination was B. multivorans. Species level identification allowed the manufacturer to link the batch contaminations and perform a high-quality internal investigation to find the contamination source. Ultimately, the organism was traced to the purified water system and having established root cause, the manufacturer was able to correct the plumbing and implement additional corrective and preventative actions.

Any time part of your facility is offline due to a microbial contamination, it equates to lost profits. If the contamination arose from your water system, no amount of cleaning the manufacturing vessels will solve the problem because that is not the origin of the contaminant. An accurate species level identification can help link the microorganism source. The relative cost of accurate microbial IDs is small especially compared to the loss of inventory or a recall. With an environmental monitoring (EM) program in place, you can reduce the risk of this happening. EM programs will have you screening your water and other parts of your facility regularly and will serve as an early warning system that will save you time and money with faster and more effective contamination control.

Catching microbes before they become a problem and working to implement a microbial contamination control strategy means regularly monitoring your environment including your water sources with updated technology to catch microbial contamination faster and more accurately.

Contact: Minu Youngkin, Global Marketing Manager, Microdial Solutions, Charles River