Evaluation of a cleanser for petroleum-contaminated skin

Extremity injuries contaminated with petroleum products pose clinical dilemmas. This project was designed to evaluate the efficacy of a dioctyl sulfosuccinate (DS) solution for cleansing petroleum-contaminated skin.

One hundred Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to a contamination protocol followed by a cleansing procedure. Four petroleum contaminants and five cleansing solutions were selected. The protocol consisted of shaving, initial punch biopsy, contamination, precleansing punch biopsy, standardized scrub protocol, and postcleansing punch biopsy. Biopsy samples were analyzed for petroleum residue using fluorometry.

The 10% DS solution had the highest reduction of crude oil, grease, and tar: 99.6 +/- 0.4% (mean +/- SD) contaminant reduction for crude oil, 99.8 +/- 0.2% for grease, and 99.8 +/- 0.2% for tar. The other cleansers showed less efficacy (p < 0.05).

Concentrated DS appears to be significantly more effective at cleaning petroleum products from skin than the commonly chosen surgical and commercial cleansers.