In vivo chemiluminescence measurements of the volunteers´ skin / ICL-S

Oxidative stress is the term used to describe an unusually high number of free radicals attacking the body. Antioxidants counteract this, which is why they are also called radical scavengers.

Free radicals are formed by the body itself as a normal metabolic product. However, this production can be greatly accelerated by external factors. This is especially true when the body has to neutralise UV radiation from the sun or pollutants from the air.

A reduction of free radicals by topically applied active ingredients is correlated with the reduction of the photoemission of our skin (decrease of the ICL-S signal). This provides a very sensitive method to measure oxidative stress non-invasively directly on the skin subject’s skin. The ICL-S technique is based on single-photon-counting and was specifically developed to detect the antioxidative-effect of cosmetic products.