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Skin cleansers for occupational use: testing the skin compatibility of different formulations
Objectives:
Skin-compatible hand cleansing is crucial for the prevention of occupational dermatitis. In this article we give an overview of skin-cleansing products and their ingredients and investigate whether solvents or abrasives could be avoided in cleansers for severely soiled skin.
Methods:
Comparison of skin compatibility, cleansing power and effectiveness of different formulations of skin cleansers was performed via Duhring chamber tests [visual score, trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL)] and standard hand-wash tests.
Results:
The results show that, dependent on the grade of contamination, a range of skin cleansers that allow adequate skin cleansing, is necessary. Solvents could be avoided, by the use of powerful cleansing systems based on tenside/oil mixtures. Only for special contaminations may solvents be useful. Powerful cleansing activity could be performed without abrasives.
Conclusions:
The worker must be able to choose the skin cleanser that is adequate for the contamination that is present. Therefore, information and education of the workers are crucial for skin-compatible skin cleansing.