Fig. 3: Use of P5 MPs as an alternative to microbeads in cleansing products.
From: Degradable poly(β-amino ester) microparticles for cleansing products and food fortification
a, A schematic of a representative cleansing product in this study. P5 MPs were well mixed with soap foam, and then the mixture was applied on skin samples to mimic the cleaning actions. b, The addition of a milligram level of P5 MPs did not change the physical appearance of the soap foam (5 ml). c,d, Application (50 times) of soap foam mixed with of 60 mg P5 MPs (c) was notably effective to clean Sharpie permanent marker patterns on the pig skin samples in contrast to that of soap foam only (d). e, The color retention decreased with an increase in the concentration of P5 MPs and number of wiping actions applied on the skin samples (n = 3 independent replicates; 30 wipes: 30 mg versus soap, P = 0.0311, 60 mg versus soap, P = 0.0105; 40 wipes: 15 mg versus soap, P = 0.0282, 30 mg versus soap, P = 0.0470, 60 mg versus soap, P = 0.0199; 50 wipes: 15 mg versus soap, P = 0.0101, 30 mg versus soap, P = 0.0180, 60 mg versus soap, P = 0.0035). f, P5 MP-added soap foam also more effectively cleaned patterned from a representative cosmetic product (an eyeliner) on the pig skin samples (n = 9 independent replicates; 5 wipes, P = 4.7118 × 10−7; 10 wipes, P = 2.4422 × 10−7). g, P5 MPs showed significantly more effective absorption of copper compared with the polyethylene (PE) MP control (n = 4 independent replicates; control versus P5, P = 4.0625 × 10−5; control versus PE, P = 7.0904 × 10−5). The data are presented as mean ± s.d. Statistical significance was evaluated using two-tailed Student’s t-test. P ≤ 0.05 is statistically significant, with *P ≤ 0.05, **P ≤ 0.01, ***P ≤ 0.001 and ****P ≤ 0.0001. NS, not significant.
