cosmetic products are part of the lives of more than 450 million europeans regularly use them in different varieties as shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, toothpaste, foam shaving, perfume or makeup, among others.many factors affect the quality and conservation, such as oxygen, light, moisture, and one of the major concerns of the cosmetics industry, such as contamination by microorganisms. their commercialization would not be possible without the incorporation of artificial preservatives and packaging systems, making it safe and extend its life.however, there is a huge controversy between consumers and authorities about these artificial preservatives, so both companies and european legislation seeks to gradually reduce the number of these that are incorporated into cosmetics.technological challengeto this objectives is directed the acticospack project, in which a consortium of companies and research centers led by laboratorios acento is involved to create more natural cosmetic products. in the words of the coordinator and r&d manager of this company, luis torró, the project is an "exciting technological challenge, formulating new cosmetics packed with active technologies that reduce the levels of preservatives without affecting their safety," he says.specifically, "we have to get new cosmetic formulations with fewer artificial preservatives because they will bring the active packaging, which also will be natural, resulting in a safe and compliant with all european product legislation", says torró.the revolutionary active packaging acticospack will be able to disperse natural preservatives in a number and appropriate amount in cosmetic products. this conservation mode allows the reduction of artificial preservatives in cosmetics formulation and has a longer lasting effect than the direct addition of current preservatives, thus prolonging its life.with this new system "will have an amazing competitive advantage we will have cosmetic formulations and active packaging designs that meets the technical and legal requirements , and we will have many years ahead to what comes on the market", torró concludes.laboratorios acento española de nuevos tratamientos, sa is involved in this cooperative project of the 7th framework programme of the european union together with the packaging, transport and logistics research center itene and the german fraunhofer, with the italian firms induplast, lameplast, and  gepack in portugal.
