GMIT student from Mayo wins top science award
GMIT science student Tamara Jordan, from Bohola, has won a prestigious national award at this year’s Science Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Network Awards for her research project examining the safety of daily use cosmetics and for her communication skills in delivering her findings to a large virtual audience.
Tamara’s presentation, titled Chemical characterisation of finished cosmetic products using spectrophotometric methods and analytical techniques, examines the ‘make-up’ of the products to determine the relative composition of the compounds, their importance in creating the desired aesthetic appearance, while also ensuring safety and quality of the products.
This project aimed to educate consumers around the major components present in their daily use cosmetics, to assess the safety of products available on the Irish market, and to raise awareness on the potential of harmful impurities.
Ten products were examined including lipstick, eyeshadow, and blush and bronzing powders. Safe ingredients such as polymeric compounds, metal oxide pigments and wax and oil components were identified in abundance through the various analytical methods chosen.
The major safety concerns surrounding cosmetics involve the potential contamination with heavy metal compounds, as a result of poor manufacturing practices. This is of ongoing importance, as cosmetic products, unlike foods and medicines, are not subject to FDA approval prior to market release.
Fortunately, the samples selected from the Irish market were deemed safe for use with no traces of heavy metal elements found.
An important note made from this research was the harmful correlation found between counterfeit cosmetics and their inclusion of heavy metal contaminants, and thus, the necessity for consumers to purchase their cosmetics from a reliable source, to ensure safety and compliance with cosmetic industry safeguarding processes.
Tamara completed her final year B. Sc. (Hons) in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Science in GMIT this year and will graduate this month. She was one of 60 students from nine higher education institutes to present their research projects to a virtual audience of over 600 final year students and academic research supervisors.
Dr. Éadaoin Tyrrell, GMIT Department of Natural Sciences, who supervised Tamara’s research project, said: “Tamara’s achievement in winning this award is due recognition of the complexity and depth of research and development of her project. Presenting to a virtual audience due to the unique circumstances of these challenging times, she succinctly conveyed the complexity and depth of her research and its application to everyday life. Her enthusiasm for and application to her subject is an inspiration to us all.”
Commenting on her award, Tamara said: “From conducting my research project, I learned to really appreciate the words ‘Science is more than a body of knowledge. It is a way of thinking'. Going forward in my career I aim to apply the same doctrine.”
This was the seventh annual SURE Network Awards event and the first to have been hosted fully online, led this year by GMIT, CIT and TU Dublin.