Plant extracts or their isolated compounds are common ingredients in cosmetic product formulations due to their numerous beneficial effects on the skin, mucosa, hair and nails. The chamomile extract (Matricaria chamomilla L.) has a diverse chemical composition. It is used in cosmetic products beacuse of its anti-inflammatory, regenerating, tonic and antioxidant effects on the skin. Before using a plant extract, we must evaluate its safety, since the composition of the extract is complex and can even be toxic. In the scope of our thesis, we assessed the qualitative and quantitative composition of chamomile flower extract, which is found in the examined cosmetic product under study at as specific concentration. We assessed its safety using the threshold of toxicological concern (TTC) approach, which defines potential toxcity of the chemical, based on the categorization of compounds into Cramer´s toxicity classes with defined TTC values of safe exposure to the chemical. From the literature we obtained structural formulas and concentration of individual ingredients present in the extract. Using an in silico tool ChemOffice, we next determined their physicochemical properties (logP and logS), -which we later used for determination of the potential absorption and the systemic exposure. We also determined the maximal permitted concentration for compounds with unknown concentration in the extract. The potential for compound absorbtion was low for most compounds. Likewise, the systemic exposure was minimal, because the examined individual components of the extract are present in low concentrations. All values were below the TTC values of respective Cramer's classes, to which all compounds were classified using the Toxtree software. We calculated the safe daily exposure for certain selected ingredients, which allowed us to compare the values obtained with the TTC approach. The safe daily exposure of some chemicals was much higher when compared to the TTC values. We determined the maximum allowed concentrations for all the chemicals in the chamomile extract, if the latter is present in a cosmetic product iat 0,1 % concentration. After careful review of all calculations and comparisons, we assessed the extract of the flower of chamomile as an ingredient, which is safe to use in cosmetic products. However, when generating a safety assessment, we also have to take into account other ingredients of the cosmetic produc, the amount used, the site of application as well as the exposure time and frequency of application.
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