Protecting us from ourselves : Lab testing to ensure consumer safety.

Responsible consumer products manufacturers strive to ensure the products we interact with daily are not only functional and durable but also safe for us to use.

Our skin, as the body’s largest organ, plays a central role in protecting us from harmful external factors, but it also creates potential risks when interacting with everyday products. Sophisticated test methods to protect us from harm have been developed, as material science advances.

The protective role of skin

The skin is not just a passive barrier, it’s an active, multi-functional organ that provides a shield against harmful microorganisms, physical injury, and UV radiation, while also playing a vital role in regulating body temperature through perspiration. Sweat cools the body as it evaporates from the skin's surface, maintaining internal homeostasis.

However the skin isn’t impermeable, it’s a semi-permeable membrane, that allows certain substances to pass through the dermal layer. Topical medications work this way, being absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream. However, this permeability also means that, under specific conditions, harmful substances or chemicals in the environment can enter the body.

Human sweat is complex

Sweat is more than just a simple mixture of water and salts, containing a complex array of organic compounds, including amino acids, urea, and electrolytes. As it evaporates, it leaves behind a thin, yet dynamic, liquid film on the skin’s surface, which can react with the items we come into contact with. This may cause skin irritation, allergic reactions, or even the absorption of potentially toxic substances into the body.

Ensuring product safety through rigorous testing protocols

To address these concerns, manufacturers in the textile, fashion, PPE and consumer electronics industries must take great care to ensure that their products will not negatively react to sweat.

Textile manufacturers, for example, have long focused on colour fastness and durability, ensuring that products last and retain their appearance after repeated use. However, today’s quality control measures extend far beyond aesthetics and performance. Modern textile manufacturers are increasingly concerned with how materials might react to our sweat, affecting both the product's integrity and, more importantly, our health.

Synthetic biologicals maximise testing accuracy and reproducibility

The key to this advanced testing lies in the development of synthetic biologicals

that mimic native human liquids, including sweat. They include key elements: water, electrolytes, urea, and amino acids. The leader in this field is Pickering Laboratories, a company that has spent decades researching and developing synthetic biologicals. Their work has led to the creation of specialised formulations of sweat, saliva, urine, gastric juices, earwax, and more —

each serving as a stand-in for bodily fluids in product testing. This allows manufacturers to accurately simulate how products and materials might interact with the human body over time, helping them identify potential risks such as chemical leaching, skin irritation, or toxicity before they ever reach consumers.

Wearable electronics products and jewellery - the need for specialised testing

Products including fitness trackers, smartwatches, hearing aids, and wireless headphones, must be tested for physical comfort, durability and adverse skin reactions due to chemical reactivity with human skin. For products designed to stay in constant contact with our skin, it is even more critical that the materials used in their construction are tested to be safe and non-reactive.

Artificial sweat is invaluable in measuring the impact of prolonged exposure to sweat on materials used in these devices. The goal is to ensure that components like metals, plastics, and coatings won’t corrode, degrade, or worse, leach harmful substances into the body over time. For example, materials like stainless steel, silicon, and plastic, commonly used in wearables, are tested to ensure that no toxic by-products, such as heavy metals or plasticisers, will be absorbed into the skin.

The potential hidden dangers of synthetic materials

Another area of concern is the widespread use of synthetic materials in everyday products, including clothing, upholstery, and furniture. Polyester, a commonly used synthetic fabric, is known to release various chemical compounds during manufacturing and use. One such group of chemicals is polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which have been linked to a range of health issues, including cancer. Similarly, the flame retardants and other chemicals used in synthetic textiles and furniture padding can pose significant risks if they come into prolonged contact with the skin.

As consumers, we may not always think about how our clothing, electronics, or furniture interact with our bodies, but manufacturers are working to protect us from the very things that we might not even know we need protection from.

ESSLAB: ensuring safe, high-quality products through reliable analytical data

ESSLAB plays a crucial role in assisting manufacturers by providing the certified reference materials (CRMs) necessary for precise, reproducible and reliable product testing. As a specialist supplier of both organic and inorganic CRMs, ESSLAB is an expert primary distributor for Pickering Laboratories, a leader in the development of synthetic biologicals including artificial sweat and other bodily fluid analogues.

To find out more, please visit: Product Testing Solutions Or contact us by live chat, phone or email. We look forward to working with you!