Brit. J. industr. MVed., 1951, 8, 26.

NEW LIQUID SKIN CLEANSERS FOR WORKERSEXPOSED TO MINERAL OIL

BYL. N. SAVIDGE and F. H. TYRERFrom the Research Department, Port Sunlight

(RECFIVED FOR PUBLICATION SEPTEMBER 14, 1950)

- The importance of providing adequate cleansingfacilities for industrial workers, and in particularfor those whose skin is constantly or frequentlyexposed to contamination with potentially harmfullubricating oils, is now well recognized. Theremoval of lubricating oils from the skin, althoughsuperficially an apparently simple matter, is, in fact,usually difficult to accomplish without usingharsh abrasive cleansers or oil-solvents such askerosene or white spirit. Traces of lubricating oilsare tenaciously retained, particularly in the hairfollicles, and are a potential source of danger.Whilst abrasive and solvent cleansers are verypopular with workmen because of the ease andspeed with which they can be used, both must becondemned, the one because of the damage to theepidermis resulting from frequent use, and the otherbecause of its excessive defatting action, which maylead to dermatitis. In considering the ideal type ofcleanser, therefore, due account must be paid toits effectiveness in the removal of oily and particulatesoils, to the absence of abrasion or excessive de-fatting effect, to ease of application, and speed ofaction. The last two factors are important if theworker is to be persuaded to use the cleanser. Itfollows then that cleansers supplied to the workersmust be chosen carefully, and in making this choiceit is desirable that the industrial medical officershould be consulted.

Fortunately the assessment of the efficiency of acleanser is a simple matter, as has been shown byCruickshank (1948). In order to see whether anylubricating oil is left on the skin after washing, itis sufficient to examine the hands and arms of theworker in ultra-violet light, when the presence ofthe merest residual traces ofsuch oil will be disclosedby a bright, pale blue fluorescence. Using aspecial washing technique and then applying thistest for residual lubricating oil, Cruickshank

compared a wide variety of cleansers and foundthe most effective to be a mixture of

Powdered soap * .. .. .. .. 50%Mild organic absorbent such as wood

flour .. .. .. .. .. 42%Borax .. .. .. .. .. 2%Sodium pyrophosphate .. .. .. 6%

We have found, however, in extensive trials, thatthe regular use of this cleanser tends to be ratherdrying to the skin of some individuals, pariicularlyin cold weather and with elderly workers, and thatthis can be rectified by omission of the pyrophos-phate without any noticeable loss of efficiency inremoving dirt and oil. Cruickshank found thenext most effective cleansers to be those based onsoap or sulphonated oils in conjunction with whitespirit or a mixture of white spirit and light lub-ricating oil together with minor ingredients andwater. These liquid cleansers rapidly loosened thedirt and oil from the hands, but during rinsing someof the lubricating oil was re-deposited on the skinand in ultra-violet light could be seen as a fine,fluorescent film; a second wash, preferably withsoap and water, was found to be necessary in orderto remove the oil completely from the skin. Wecarried out wide scale industrial t-rials underordinary conditions of use and confirmed thesefindings.

New Type Liquid CleansersIn discussing alternative methods of skin cleansing

Cruickshank found that complete removal oflubricating oil could be obtained if the hands andarms were anointed with medicinal paraffin or otherbland oil, and then washed. Thus a cleansercontaining medicinal paraffin or a similar innocuousoily constituent might prove to be the most effectivetype of liquid cleanser. We have examined a

* Powdered soap is obtained by drying soap to which no alkalior other salts have been added.

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SKIN CLEANSERS FOR AfINERAL OIll

number of such cleansers, which incidentally arefar more difficult to formulate than those based onkerosene or white spirit, and have found them to behighly efficient although perhaps not quite soeffective as the wood flour cleanser mentionedabove when heavy contaminations of particulatesoil have to be removed. An example of thistype of cleanser is a clear, single phase liquidcontaining the following:

Non-ionic detergent (condensed poly-ethylene-oxide type).. .. .. 24%

Mineral oil (cosmetic grade, non-fluorescent in ultra-violet light) .. 10%

"Lorol " (commercial lauryl alcohol) .. 5%Isopropyl alcohol .. .. .. 10%Cresol (optional) .. .. .. .. 2%Soap (low titre) .. .. .. .. 8%Water .. .. .. .. .. 41%

This cleanser, rubbed into the dry skin, loosensand dissolves the contaminating lubricating oil andwhen rinsed off with water leaves the skin free fromthe soil. In exceptionally difficult cases a secondwash may be necessary, and the cleanser may beused on the already wetted skin. A further virtueof this particular type of cleanser is that the skinis left particularly soft and smooth and less liableto chap in cold weather.A cleanser such as the one just described is

necessarily rather expensive to produce and on thisaccount might not be generally acceptable, althoughlimited experience suggests that the expense isjustified in cases where the worker is sensitive tothe usual cleansers. Synthetic detergents or soapused alone, as Cruickshank showed, are not verysatisfactory cleansers for oily dirt, although, in thecase of certain of the synthetics, lack of efficiencyis due to difficulties of application rather than tolack of detergent properties. It has now beenfound that suitable mixtures of synthetic detergents 2and soap form cleansers both effective and pleasantto use. A cleanser containing

Non-ionic detergent (condensed poly-ethylene-oxide type) .. 14-5%

Soap (low titre) .. .. .. 50%Isopropyl alcohol .. .. 40%Water .. .. .. .. .. 76-5%

when used on the dry skin as previously described,is effective in removing most oily soils, and is verylittle inferior to the compound cleanser containingcosmetic grade mineral oil. This cleanser has beentested under ordinary conditions of use by large

Photographs in ultra-violet light.FIG. 1.-Normal hand before soiling, with natural

fluorescence of nails.FIG 2.-Hand after soiling with dirty diesel engine oil.FIG. 3.-Same hand after washing with toilet soap. 3

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BRITISH JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE

numbers of workers such as fitters, garage hands,and others whose work involves the handling ofdirty lubricating oils and greases, and by womenhandling animal and vegetable oils, with whom itproved very popular as it left the hands clean,soft, and smooth.

Efficiency of Different Types of CleanserSome idea of the relative efficiencies of the

various types of cleansers mentioned may beobtained from the photographs, which were takenin ultra-violet light through a gelatine screen tofilter out stray ultra-violet radiations. Fig. 1 showsthe normal hand before soiling; apart from thefinger nails, which fluoresce naturally, the hand isquite free from fluorescence. Fig. 2 shows theappearance of the hand after soiling with dirty

4 sump oil from a diesel engine; the whole handshines with a bright, pale blue fluorescence. Fig. 3shows the same hand after washing with a goodtoilet soap; it will be seen that considerable areasof the skin are still contaminated with oil. Thehand washed with a proprietary compound cleansercontaining turkey red oil, pine oil, and kerosene(Fig. 4) is seen to retain oil, particularly betweenthe fingers and at the wrist, and not to be entirelyfree from contamination elsewhere. Figs. 5 and 6show the hands after washing with the woodflour/soap cleanser and the liquid cleanser basedon the mixture of soap and non-ionic detergent,respectively; both hands are quite free fromfluorescent oil.

SummaryThe most effective hand cleanser is a powder

containing about 50% wood flour, 48% powdered5 soap, and 2% borax. For those who prefer a

liquid cleanser, either because of ease of dispensing,feel, or for any other reason, a single phase liquidcontaining a bland, non-fluorescent mineral oil, anon-ionic detergent and soap, together with blendingagents, can strongly be recommended, particularlyfor use where the skin is sensitive to other cleansers.An almost equally effective liquid cleanser of aless expensive type is one based on a mixture ofnon-ionic detergent and soap.

REFERENCECruickshank, C. N. D. (1948). British Journal of Industrial

Medicine, 5, 204.

FIG. 4.-After washing with proprietary cleanser.FIG. 5.-After washing with wood flour/soap cleanser.FIG. 6.-After washing with non-ionic detergent/soap

6 cleanser.

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