Evaluation of moisture penetration through skin protectant barriers by paper chromatography

Currently, there is no convenient and safe experimental method in the literature to evaluate skin protectant formulations for barrier properties. A novel and simple experimental method, based on paper chromatography, was developed to screen a broad spectrum of skin protectants available for moisture penetration. The method involves the use of paper chromatography for determining the Moisture Penetration Rate through a thin barrier film of a given skin protectant product. It is simple, inexpensive, convenient, and safe and was used to evaluate 12 products currently used as skin protectants. This method can be used by formulators in their development efforts and by caregivers to determine the barrier properties of various products in a short period of time without expensive instrumentation or extensive time commitments. Skin irritation resulting from fecal and urinary incontinence is a common problem for geriatric patients (Fiers & Siebert, 1993, Talbot, 1994). Various products on the market today are used as protective barriers to prevent skin irritation from moisture penetration. However, from the caregiver's perspective, there is a need for identifying the best product or the relative ranking of products based on suitable test methods. There is a lack of suitable in vitro test methods to screen skin protectant barriers (Guillemin, Murset, Lob, & Riquez, 1974; Pigatto, Bigardi, Legori, Altomare, & Finzi, 1993) on the market. For any method to be acceptable it must be convenient, simple, reproducible, and safe for use on human volunteers. More importantly, it must have clinical relevance.