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Development of a standardized procedure for testing the efficacy of workplace cleansers
Author(s) -
Elsner Peter,
Seyfarth Florian,
Sonsmann Flora,
John SwenMalte,
Diepgen Thomas,
Schliemann Sibylle
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
contact dermatitis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1600-0536
pISSN - 0105-1873
DOI - 10.1111/cod.12121
Subject(s) - cleanser , skin irritation , medicine , patch testing , skin barrier , cosmetics , dentistry , dermatology , contact dermatitis , allergy , pathology , immunology
Summary Background Occupational skin cleansing is a risk factor for cumulative irritant dermatitis. Standardized methods are required to assess the cleaning efficacy of occupational skin cleansers, allowing us to choose the optimal cleanser with minimal irritation for specific workplaces. Objectives To develop a standardized procedure for testing the cleaning efficacy of occupational skin cleansers. Methods In this single‐blind, randomized, monocentric clinical trial in 24 healthy volunteers, the cleaning efficacy of generic reference cleansers was assessed against standardized test dirts. The test procedure included standardized dirt application, standardized washing with an automated skin cleaning device, and quantification of the cleaning efficacy by chromametry. For two cleansers, reproducibility of the cleaning efficacy assessment was studied. Furthermore, the performance of two cleansers was compared with that of commercial skin cleansers. Results Cleaning factors ranged from 12% up to 97% for the respective model dirts. A high reproducibility of the washing and the assessment procedure could be shown. The comparison of the washing efficacies for two reference cleansers with those of commercial cleansers showed partly similar performances, but also a higher cleaning efficacy for some dirts of the reference cleansers. Conclusions The testing procedure proved to be applicable to a wide spectrum of cleansers and model dirts.