SQUALANE

FROM THE SHARKS IN OUR CREAMS TO THE SERUM OF OUR DREAMS

What is Squalane?
Squalene is a high-end, valued cosmetic ingredient
due to several of its unique properties.

In a pure state, it is a mobile, colorless, odorless and

tasteless hydrocarbon oil with good physical and
chemical stability.

The ingredient’s sensorial profile, biocompatibility

with skin, robust composition and moisturizing
benefits have made it a favorite with cosmetic
formulators.
 Squalane
❑ manufactured by catalytic hydrogenation
of squalene
❑ non-oxidizable) version of “squalene”
which creates a barrier between the skin
and the environment which allows the
retention of moisture
❑Usually used as an emollient in lotions and
moisturizers
VS Squalene
❑ a natural triterpene hydrocarbon and one
of the most important human skin cell lipids
sensitized in the sebaceous glands
❑ a major component of human sebum that
lubricate and protect your skin
❑ if utilized as skincare product it will be
degraded quickly as it is deemed as very
unstable
USES OF
SQUALANE/SQUALENE
Weight and Cholesterol Control
◦ Oral administration of SQ can produce other benefits
when ingested in the body. consumption was also shown
to reduce total cholesterol, LDLcholesterol, and
triglyceride levels after 20 weeks with SQ pravastatin
treatments

Emollient and Moisturizer

◦ SQ is a natural antioxidant molecule that protects cells
from oxidative damage by exposure to ultraviolet light and
other external sources
USES OF SQUALANE/SQUALENE
 Drug Administration Agent

POTENTIAL USES ◦ it was observed that SQ in combination with other

compounds improves the effectiveness of drugs and the
OF SQUALANE immune response to the antigen
SOURCES OF
SQUALANE/SQUALENE
Squalene from shark liver oil

❑ has been the major natural source of squalene

❑estimated that for producing 1 ton of squalene, it

demands as many as about 3000 sharks

oEvery year, approximately 100 million sharks are

killed brutally for the purpose of shark finning
 SOURCES OF
SQUALANE/SQUAL
ENE

S Q UA L E N E / S Q UA L A N E F RO M
PLANTS

❑ most plant oils contain a minute

amount of squalene
❑ highly stable, non-toxic, odorless,
and colorless
❑ olive oil (0.9-12.45 g/kg)- the only
source used for commercial
purposes
❑ amaranth has the highest squalene
content (600 g/kg)
SOURCES OF
SQUALANE/SQUALENE

Squalene/squalane from
microorganisms
❑prominent natural sources of
squalene
❑Saccharomyces cerevisiae
(yeast) was able to produce a
small amount of squalene,
❑Torulaspora delbrueckii
(0.24 mg/g DCW)
SQUALANE AND SYNTHETIC
BIOLOGY
❑ new approach has been developed to enable the
commercial scale manufacture of squalane from
fermentable sugars

❑Farnesene, the natural biosynthetic precursor of

squalene, is produced on an industrial scale by
fermentation using the common non-pathogenic
yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

❑Since 2010, Amyris marketed its sugar derived

squalane as Neossance
 UPDATES ON SQUALENE AND
SQUALANE
Squalene is currently under many studies especially on its potential in targeting different medical problems:
• atherosclerotic lesions;
• cardiovascular disease;
• proliferation of cancer cells;
• removal of xenobiotic compunds in the body, etc.

Studying the host microorganisms, such as E.coli, S. cerevisae by engineering some of its parts like the cell
wall, extending cell membrane, etc. Also, the researchers are continuing to use other microoganisms like
algae to mass-produce squalene.

Meanwhile, squalane is currently eyeing for its potential for its use in complex cosmetic dermatological
medicine.
UPDATES ON SQUALENE AND
SQUALANE
◦ Just weeks ago, The Digest reported that Amyris clean beauty business,
comprising Biossance, Pipette and the company's squalane ingredients is
off to much better than expected growth for 2020 and is on track for over
250% year on year sales growth after the six weeks of 2020. Year to date
through February 18,2020 , sales through the Biossance brand's website
Biossance.com have exceeded 2X totsl-full quarter of 2019 sales.
PROBLEMS
1. The use of synthetic-biology derived squalane, although cost effective and sustainable can
undercut into the shark squalane market and it can significantly undercut the production of
squalane from olives and other plants, which is suppose to provide added value.
2. Also, currently there’s no comprehensive regulatory tools for the oversight and governance of
synthetic biology
3. Currently there is no risk assessment protocols to assess potential risks of synthetic products
like squalane
4. Insufficient research on the related biosafety risks and ecological risks of synthetic biology
derived products, since they are deemed as inherently uncertain and unpredictable
5. Lack of standardized labeling regulations to avoid misbranding of products.
 Re-review of the safety
assessment done on IS SQUALANE AND SQUALENE SAFE
Squalane and Squalene
last 1982 TO USE?
Re-review of the safety assessment done
on Squalane and Squalene last 1982
The Panel agreed that a discussion does not need to be developed, and unanimously concluded that the
CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review) Panel’s original safety assessment on Squalene and Squalane does not
need to be reopened and that the conclusion should not be changed.

The assessment includes a collection of studies with regards to the genotoxicity, mutagenicity,
carcinogenicity and on its effects on the skin since mostly it is topically applied. There are several studies
who mentioned the source of the squalene or squalene that they utilized for their experiments. Most of them
utilized squalene and squalene from shark liver oil and from plant sources as well including olive oil. With
being said, safety assessment studies of synthetically derived squalane is a must.
SOLUTIONS
1. The development of regulatory measures on the production, and commercialization of
synthetically derived products.

2. The conduct of risk assessments of synthetically derived ingredients like squalene used in a
lot of commercial products.

3. The continuous research on the potential effects of synthetically derived ingredients like
squalene, the ecological risks and biosafety issues it may pose.

4. The development of standardized labeling of ingredients, whether the synthetically derived

squalene is the same as the naturally derived ones.
 REFERENCES
Brusini, R., Dormont, F., Cailleau, C., Nicolas, V., Peramo, A., Varna, M., & Couvreur, P. (2020). Squalene-based nanoparticles for the targeting of
atherosclerotic lesions. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 119282.

Gohil, N., Bhattacharjee, G., Khambhati, K., Braddick, D., & Singh, V. (2019). Engineering strategies in microorganisms for the enhanced production of
squalene: advances, challenges and opportunities. Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology, 7, 50.

Ibrahim, N. I., Fairus, S., Zulfarina, M. S., & Naina Mohamed, I. (2020). The Efficacy of Squalene in Cardiovascular Disease Risk-A Systematic Review.
Nutrients, 12(2), 414.

Lozano-Grande, A. G.-R.-O.-A. (2018). Plant Sources, Extraction Methods, and Uses of Squalene. International Journal of Agronomy, 1-14.

McPhee, D. P. (2014). Deriving Renewable Squalane from Sugarcane. Cosmetics & Toiletries magazine, Vol. 129, No. 6.

Nathan, J. A. (2020). Squalene and cholesterol in the balance at the ER membrane. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(15), 8228-
8230.

Soloviova, A. V., Brushnevskaya, V. E., Kucheruk, K. A., & Kaliuzhna, O. S. (2020). Potential usage of squalane in complex cosmetic dermatological
medicine.

(2014). NAVIGATING THE REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: SYNTHETIC SQUALANE CASE STUDY. Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.Washington, DC .
THANK YOU!
MARIELLE D. BUIZA RAENA MARIE F. PENDRAS
MS BIO 200 MS BIOLOGY