Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: Bouslimani et al. (1) have produced a wealth of new chemical information about human skin using impressive analytical chemistry, data handling, and big data representation. The authors examine skin cells, skin tissue and, overwhelmingly, swabs of selected regions of the skin. These samples, microbial strains, and beauty product samples were fractionated by chromatography and tandem MS (MS/MS) data were recorded. A unique set of MS/MS transitions was obtained by pairwise comparison and a metabolomics database helped to identify individual compounds and create molecular networks. Despite the massive amounts of data taken, there is neither a claim of complete coverage nor are biological variations explored; most of the identified compounds originate in personal hygiene and beauty products. There are also quirky observations, such as finding the MALDI matrix sinapic acid on a subject’s hands (could this person be a chemist?). Implicit in the study are questions of whether in beauty care we are repeating past mistakes with chemical overuse. The study certainly informs us on what is left on our skin when we wash away the products that we dab, spray, smear, or deluge on ourselves.
Institution: Purdue University West Lafayette
Language: English
Subfield: Spectroscopy
Field: Chemistry
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2157610183