The Truth About Shark Derived Squalene & Squalane Humans have u+lized sharks for thousands of years, but in the last three decades, shark popula+ons have declined by as much as 90% globally. This is largely due to the shark fin trade, that claims 100 million sharks every year, a conserva+ve es+mate. The cosme+c and supplement industry is fueling this demise as well by relying on shark-derived squalene for their products. Plain and simple, squalene extracted from shark livers is not sustainable. A shiH from shark-derived squalene to the sources described below is extremely important in protecng the health of our oceans. Using these alterna+ves, squalene of the same or similar quality can be obtained, but in more sustainable terms. With a shiH in squalene source, you should not only be able to maintain your current consumer base, but also add to it by including consumers who prefer to use products containing alterna+ves to shark-derived squalene. -Bloom Associa,on conducted a survey to find that the cosme,c industry is the largest (90%) user of shark squalene. An astonishing 7 out of 8 creams surveyed have animal squalene. This equals roughly 2.7 million shark lives taken a year for our cosme,cs. -It is es,mated that 1 ton of shark liver oil is produced from 2,500 to 3,000 sharks. -“It has been es,mated that more than 350,000 sharks are illegally slaughtered each year in the Atlan,c and the Pacific Oceans, purely for the produc,on of squalene.” -Squalene is oQen harvested from deep sea sharks due to their high concentra,ons of this compound in their liver oil. Many alterna,ve squalene sources exist that are much less invasive and harmful. -Deep sea sharks are primary targets for the liver oil industry as they tend to have higher concentra,ons of compounds such as squalene. However, other sharks are s,ll targeted. -Some shark species that fall vic,m to the liver oil industry include the basking shark, gulper shark, the kitefin shark, salmon shark, thresher shark, ,ger shark, and the lantern shark. -Heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants, which accumulate in the fat of large marine predators, have been found in squalene and shark liver oil capsules in Japan (Bloom, 2012). -According to Axiology.com, the UN released a report sta,ng that more than 50 shark species are fished for their liver oil. Several of these sharks are listed on the IUCN Red List. Addi,onally, over 3 million deep-sea sharks are hunted and killed for their livers each year (Bloom, 2012), with 3,000 sharks needed to produce a single ton of squalene (Sharks-World, 2017). -There are many alterna,ves to shark-derived squalene as described in the sources on page 2, that are more sustainable, environmentally friendly, and poten,ally more cost-effec,ve. -The alterna,ve that produces the highest quan,ty of squalene was from the Pseudozyma species of yeasts (70.32 mg/g dry cell weight). However, the yeast species Kluyveromyces lacs was shown to be able to produce squalene at approximately 12 mg/g, but was grown in a cheap lactose containing industry waste, demonstra,ng the poten,al for this alterna,ve to be cost effec,ve, allowing for the manufacture of more squalene at a be`er cost. -Squalene produced in some of the studies on page 2 were proven to demonstrate an,oxidant and an,microbial ac,vi,es, and having a high purity. Sources Bakes MJ, Nichols PD. 1995. Lipid, fa`y acid and squalene composi,on of liver oil from six species of deep-sea sharks collected in southern australian waters. Compara,ve Biochemistry and Physiology Part B: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 110(1):267–275. Beltrán G, Bucheli ME, Aguilera MP, Belaj A, Jimenez A. 2016. Squalene in virgin olive oil: Screening of variability in olive cul,vars. European Journal of Lipid Science & Technology. 118(8):1250–1253. Biswas SM, Chakraborty N. 2013. Shedded Artocarpus leaves -- Good plant sources of natural squalene with potent an,oxidant and an,microbial ac,vity -- Alterna,ve to marine animals. Journal of Natural Pharmaceu,cals. 4(1):21–27. Budge SM, Barry C. 2019. Determina,on of squalene in edible oils by transmethyla,on and GC analysis. MethodsX. 6:15–21. DrozdÃková E, Garaiová M, Csáky Z, Obernauerová M, Hapala I. 2015. Produc,on of squalene by lactose-fermen,ng yeast Kluyveromyces lacs with reduced squalene epoxidase ac,vity. Le` Appl Microbiol. 61(1):77–84. Englund E, Pa`anaik B, Ubhayasekera SJK, Stensjö K, Bergquist J, Lindberg P. 2014. Produc,on of Squalene in Synechocys,s sp. PCC 6803. PLoS ONE. 9(3):1–8. Garaiová M, Zambojová V, Å imová Z, GriaÄ P, Hapala I. 2014. Squalene epoxidase as a target for manipula,on of squalene levels in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. FEMS Yeast Res. 14(2):310–323. Ghimire GP, Lee HC, Sohng JK. 2009. Improved Squalene Produc,on via Modula,on of the Methylerythritol 4-Phosphate Pathway and Heterologous Expression of Genes from Streptomyces peuce,us ATCC 27952 in Escherichia coli. Appl Environ Microbiol. 75(22):7291–7293. doi:10.1128/ AEM.01402-09. Han JY, Seo SH, Song JM, Lee H, Choi E-S. 2018. High-level recombinant produc,on of squalene using selected Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains. Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology. 45(4):239–251. Huang M-H, Huang C-Y, Lin S-C, Chen J-H, Ku C-C, Chou A-H, Liu S-J, Chen H-W, Chong P, Leng C-H. 2009. Enhancement of potent an,body and T-cell responses by a single-dose, novel nanoemulsion-formulated pandemic influenza vaccine. Microbes and Infec,on. 11(6–7):654–660. Kajikawa M, Kinohira S, Ando A, Shimoyama M, Kato M, Fukuzawa H. 2015. Accumula,on of Squalene in a Microalga Chlamydomonas reinhard,i by Gene,c Modifica,on of Squalene Synthase and Squalene Epoxidase Genes. PLoS ONE. 10(3):1–21. Kaya K, Nakazawa A, Matsuura H, Honda D, Inouye I, Watanabe MM. 2011. Thraustochytrid Auran+ochytriumsp. 18W-13a Accummulates High Amounts of Squalene. Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry. Mi-Hee Chang, Hyeon-Jin Kim, Kwang-Yeop Jahng, Seong-Chool Hong. 2008. The isola,on and characteriza,on of Pseudozyma sp. JCC 207, a novel producer of squalene. Applied Microbiology & Biotechnology. 78(6):963–972. Pokkanta P, Sookwong P, Tanang M, Setchaiyan S, Boontakham P, Mahatheeranont S. 2019. Simultaneous determina,on of tocols, γ-oryzanols, phytosterols, squalene, cholecalciferol and phylloquinone in rice bran and vegetable oil samples. Food Chemistry. 271:630–638. Rameshkumar R, Sa,sh L, Pandian S, Rathinapriya P, Rency AS, Shanmugaraj G, Pandian SK, Leung DWM, Ramesh M. 2018. Produc,on of squalene with promising an,oxidant proper,es in callus cultures of Nilgirianthus ciliatus. Industrial Crops and Products. 126:357–367. Wetherbee BM, Nichols PD. 2000. Lipid composi,on of the liver oil of deep-sea sharks from the Chatham Rise, New Zealand. Compara,ve Biochemistry and Physiology Part B: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 125(4):511–521. Links h`p://www.bloomassocia,on.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ENG_Squalene_4-pager.pdf h`ps://www.fiormarkets.com/report/squalene-market-by-source-type-vegetable-animal- synthe,c-407140.html h`ps://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/01/17/1971994/0/en/Global-Squalene-Market-is- Expected-to-Reach-USD-382-72-Million-by-2026-Fior-Markets.html h`ps://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/squalene-market h`ps://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/squalene-market-542345.html h`ps://www.sharks-world.com/shark_hun,ng/ h`ps://axiologybeauty.com/blogs/our-blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-one-of-the-cosme,c- industrys-deadliest-ingredients-squalene .