Pollutants are substances to which human could not adjust through evolution. Pollutants can be of chemical, physical or biological source. Usually, they are produced in industrial activities and during the burning of fossil fuels. Pollutants can impact several organ systems: the cardiovascular system, the nervous system, the respiratory system, the reproductive system and the skin. The most common pollutants are particulate matter. Particulate matter consists of a mixture of small particles and droplets. Penetration of particulate matter in the skin is mainly influenced by their size, the smaller they are, the easier and deeper they can penetrate into the skin. Other pollutants can bind to the surface of the solid particles, which thus serve as carrier facilitating other pollutants to enter the skin. Pollutants can also disrupt the balance of the skin microbiota, leading to the growth of pathogenic bacteria. They also cause an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and trigger oxidative stress, in which the proportion between antioxidants and ROS is disrupted. Activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, which is involved in gene expression, may also occur.
In this thesis, we reviewed the existing literature in which the impact of pollutants on the skin was investigated. We also reviewed cosmetic products that protect the skin from environmental pollutants. When examining cosmetic products, we focused on cosmetically active ingredients and other important inactive ingredients.
We concluded that in the selected cosmetic products, antioxidant are most often used as cosmetically active ingredients. A lot of cosmetic products also contained ingredient of plant origin, which are classified into plant oils/butters and plant extracts. Most plant extracts exert anti-inflammatory action. Other important ingredients were those that form a protective film on the surface of the skin, moisturizers, ingredients with anti-inflammatory activity and probiotics to support the skin's microbiota. We classified the products according to the carrier system, and found that 20 cosmetic products can be defined as creams, nine as serums, two as masks and one as a tonic.
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