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The aim of this study was to develop a new natural preservative system making up for the weak points of chitosan as a preservative. As reported in a previous manuscript (20th IFSCC Congress, Cannes, France, 1998), the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of water-soluble chitosan against bacteria and yeast were 0.9-3.0 mg mL(-1), whereas MICs of chitosan against Aspergillus niger were over 5.0 mg mL(-1). However, the result of recent study showed that the MICs of Inula helenium L. extract against A. niger were below 1.0 mg mL(-1). Thus, we could develop a new preservative system containing both chitosan and I. helenium L. extract named CI-mixture. MICs of CI-mixture against bacteria and fungi (yeast and mould) were 2.0-4.0 mg mL(-1). When 10.0% of the mixture (the ratio of chitosan to I. helenium L. extract = 7.5% : 2.5%) was applied to cosmetic formulae such as skin lotion, milk lotion, cream and pack, it revealed appropriate preservative efficacy. Our result of the patch test also showed that this preservative system reduced skin irritation by about 30-50%, as compared to the organic preservative system. Therefore, the good natural preservative system including chitosan and Inula helenium L. extract could be incorporated in cosmetic formulations.

High purity water soluble chitosans (WsCs) were employed as a flocculant to remove heavy metal ions from wastewater of industrial plating wastewater treatment complex. Their weight average molecular weights and polydispersities were 272,000~620,000 g/mol and 1.4~1.9 range, respectively and were readily soluble in water in the pH range of 3~11. Heavy metal ions such as chromium, iron and copper were removed well by WsCs. When WsCs was blended with either sodium N,N-diethyldithiocarbamate trihydrate (SDDC T ) or sodium salicylate (SS C ), the removal efficiency was further increased primarily due to the excess amount of hydrophilic sulfonic and carboxylic groups. Especially, in the case of WsCs-SS C the remaining chromium and copper concentrations were 0.1 mg/L and 9.5 mg/L, which are 1/15 and 1/3 compared with that of pure WsCs, respectively. The former is within the acceptable limit, but the latter is not. Therefore, the effective copper flocculant remains to be studied.