Chemical Associates

Personal Care Formulations for Elite Sports Use

Personal Care Formulations for Elite Sports Use

Background:

Chemical Associates have been able to help the Research and Innovation team at UK Sport on two occasions. UK Sport is the organization charged with leading sport in the UK to world class success. Their Research and Innovation team works alongside the UK’s national governing bodies and home country sports institutes to develop novel concepts that will improve the performance of elite UK athletes as they strive for international success.

UK Sport first raised the issues with Chris Drew of SORIS (www.soris.org). Christopher is a member of CICA (www.chemical-consultants.co.uk) and passed the problem onto to a fellow member of CICA, Chemical Associates.

Menthol Dispersions:

Menthol is one proposed intervention which is capable of improving the comfort of athletes during thermally stressful environments. Thermal physiologists at a UK University wanted to quantify its effect on their well-being and performance. Their problem was that in spite of a number of attempts, they were unable to develop a practical method of applying the precise amounts of menthol required.

Chemical Associates has been involved in similar work previously and carried out a series of experiments to test different ways of dispersing menthol in water. Using their knowledge of surfactants and formulation technology, it proved possible to develop a procedure to produce a clear stable low viscosity nano-dispersion of the organic solid in water, as required by the University. The dispersion contains a small quantity of surfactants in addition to the dispersed solid. It did not contain any alcohols, other liquids, fragrances or colouring. As with all soaps it should be kept away from the eyes but is hypoallergenic and does not have any other affect on the athletes.

The University Team is now able to apply precise quantities of menthol to the athletes’ skin and determine its effect on their performance.

Preventing the Transmission of Infections:

Maintaining fitness requires continuous training, much of which is carried out in weight training facilities The medical director of the English Institute for Sport, Dr Rod Jaques, noticed that training schedules were being interrupted by athletes picking up infections. One source of these infections are the gym environments, where athletes train in close proximity, taking turns to use the same equipment. Antiseptic hand washes are available to combat these infections but leave residues on the hand which impair performance and worse still can be a danger to athletes working with heavy lifting equipment.

A hand wash was required that was effective at killing all infections, did not leave residues on the athletes hands, would not cause an allergic response and which was pleasant and convenient to use.

With an understanding of the customer’s requirements Chemical Associates used their industrial knowledge to source a product which had the required characteristics.

The product selected is an aqueous blend of biocides and surfactants which accredited tests have shown to be effective against a wide range of organisms including:

• MRSA (6 strains)
• C.diff
• B.subt
• Fungi: Candida Albicans, Aspergillus Niger
• GRE - Glycopeotide Resistant Enterococcus
• SARS
• Streptococcus equus and uberis
• Influenza A
• Food organisms: Salmonella choleraeusuis, Campylobacter, Listeria, and Klebsiella
• STD organisms, etc
  

The solution was developed by PolyBiotech (www.paradigm-medical.co.uk) to fight infections in hospitals and areas used for food preparation. It was modified for use by athletes and was launched as “Gym Shield”. “Gym Shield” is hypoallergenic and does not contain alcohol, colouring or fragrances.

“Gym Shield” is made in PolyBioTech’s modern ISO GMP accredited factory in the North West of England. It is dispensed from attractive individual 50ml bottles, whenever the athlete starts to work out on a new piece of apparatus. One or two squirts of the sanitizer into the palm of the hand and rubbing the hands together provides an effective coating which kills microorganisms. Within a minute the hands are dry and the athlete is able to continue training. Chalk can be applied, if required, once the hands are dry.

Dr Jaques has begun a trial of the product at the EIS High Performance Centre at the University of Bath. Preliminary results have shown that there is a reduction in upper respiratory tract infections in the South West Region as a result of Gym Shield’s usage. Once they have more data the EIS will look at rolling out this product around its other gyms around the country.

The Head of Research and Innovation at UK Sport, Dr Scott Drawer, said: "It's great to see such positive initial results off the back of trialing this product in the EIS at the University of Bath. This is also a fantastic example of how elite sport and industry are working in partnership to come up with novel but practical solutions that could have a huge performance impact on our athletes."

If you require further information or have any comments, email us using the enquiry form on our contact page