Abstract

Consumer scrutiny and regulations have restricted the preservative palette available to home care formulators. Preservatives for home care must be BPR registered under product type 6 (Preservatives for products during storage). The current options present a growing number of challenges to consumer goods companies and formulators, including negative labeling requirements for corrosiveness or skin sensitization and compatibility with other ingredients. Sodium benzoate is now available for household and laundry care applications (under trade name Kalaguard* SB) and fills the market need for a widely effective, economical, green-label preservative. The efficacy of sodium benzoate was investigated in home care applications at pH 5.0 to 7.0, alone and in combination with low levels of MIT/MCIT and EDTA. Sodium benzoate effectively preserved the example home care formulations using concentrations ranging from 0.35 to 1.5%, depending on the formulation and pH.