{"id":5828,"date":"2017-01-27T08:00:13","date_gmt":"2017-01-27T14:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ulprospector.com\/knowledge\/?p=5828"},"modified":"2017-08-31T10:25:31","modified_gmt":"2017-08-31T16:25:31","slug":"pcc-water-important-unusual-personalcare-ingredient","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/5828\/pcc-water-important-unusual-personalcare-ingredient\/","title":{"rendered":"Water: An Important, Unusual, Personal Care Ingredient"},"content":{"rendered":"
Copyright: zven0 \/ 123RF Stock Photo<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Water is the most important, unusual, and underappreciated ingredient used in personal care. It is also one of the most peculiar materials found in nature with over 74 reported scientific anomalies1<\/sup>. Many these anomalies are due to the ability water to form short-lived hydrogen bond connections.<\/p>\n

Water is a colorless, odorless, liquid with an exceptionally high boiling and freezing point for its molecular weight. It has a molecular weight of 18 and is comprised of Oxygen covalently bonded to two Hydrogen atoms. It is the only known material that can co-exist in a solid, liquid, and gaseous state.<\/p>\n

Physicists have also demonstrated that somewhere between 40 and 60\u00b0C, liquid water can change states, exhibiting different properties depending on what form it switches to2<\/sup>. The crossover temperatures were approximately 64\u00b0C for thermal conductivity, 50\u00b0C for refractive index, 53\u00b0C for conductivity, and 57\u00b0C for surface tension.<\/p>\n

A research team led by Gerald Pollack from the University of Washington in 2010 discovered what they referred to as exclusion zone (EZ) water3<\/sup>. Molecules of liquid water near hydrophilic surfaces are arranged in a hexagonal crystal lattice and have properties dramatically different then conventional water. These include having a UV absorption at 270 nm, more viscosity, and a different refractive index. It is believed that all water found in living cells is in the form of EZ water. This form promotes protein conformation\/folding and many of the redox reactions critical for life to exist4<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Recently scientists at MIT discovered that if you confine water in a Carbon nanotube, its freezing point can be dramatically increased to over 105\u00b0C7<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

A recent controversial phenomenon is the reported ability of water to retain a memory of objects placed in it. When flowers are placed in water and removed and the water is flash cooled, it exhibits a unique crystal pattern dependent on the type of flower used5<\/sup>. Several researchers have made similar memory claims but their experiments often can\u2019t be reproduced6<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Apart from Mercury, water has the highest surface tension of all liquids1<\/sup> and is one of few known substances that expands when frozen and can float on top of its liquid state. Water reaches its maximum density at 4\u00b0C, causing water to freeze from the top down. If water froze from the bottom to the top, most aquatic life could not survive on Earth.<\/p>\n

More than 100 years ago Michael Faraday discovered that a thin film of liquid-like water is present at the surface of frozen ice that is well below 0\u00b0C. This water has very different properties than normal water. This film also makes ice slippery and is crucial for the motion of glaciers8<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Water in personal care formulations<\/strong><\/p>\n

Water is an ideal carrier for personal care formulations, as it is inexpensive, safe, and readily available. It also is one of the best known solvents, dissolving a wide range of materials due to its high polarity (dielectric constant), and low molecular weight.<\/p>\n

Deionized or USP purified are the most common grades of personal care water and are typically tested for total organic carbon (TOC), conductivity, pH, and microbiological count. This type of water is normally produced either by distillation or using a mixed bed ion exchange column. Additional processing such as UV irradiation is also normally employed to insure a low microorganism count.<\/p>\n

The top 10 water anomalies1<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n