Two-stage kinetic analysis of fragrance evaporation and absorption from skin

Human in vivo fragrance evaporation data from a previously published study are reanalysed in terms of compartmental pharmacokinetic models in which the microscopic rate constants are functions of the physicochemical properties of the fragrance components. According to the proposed analysis, which is restricted to low doses, absorption and evaporation of each component are first-order processes occurring from either the skin (one-compartment model) or the skin and a more rapidly depleted vehicle layer (two-compartment models). Evaporation rates of ingredients from a 12-component mixture containing a musk fixative followed single exponential decays that were well described by the one-compartment model. An otherwise identical mixture without fixative yielded evaporation rates that could be characterized as biexponential decays associated with loss from two compartments. This result shows that ingredient interactions qualitatively and quantitatively change evaporation rate profiles of fragrance components; however, an attempt to account for these interactions explicitly by means of activity coefficients inserted as multipliers for the microscopic rate constants was unsuccessful. Re-examination of this approach in the context of a diffusion/evaporation model is suggested. The developed models have potential utility for dermal risk assessment and for prediction of aroma evolution following topical application of complex fragrances.