COSMETICS, TOILETRIES AND HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS 733

1409. Refrain from eating furniture polish Jimenez, J. P. & Lester, R. G. (1966). Pulmonary complications following furniture polish ingestion. A report of 21 cases. Am. J. Roentg. 98, 323.

The ingestion of hydrocarbon products, often in the form of furniture polish (I), by young children is estimated to have been responsible for 28,000 cases of non-fatal poisoning and 763 deaths between 1951 and 1958. One such fatal case has already been reported (Cited in F.C.T. 1966, 4, 233). Another 107 cases of poisoning have been reported recently. Of these, 21 (average age 18 months) had eaten 1, 71 kerosene, six lighter-fuel, foul" gasoline, two turpentine, two insecticide and one floor polish.

Pulmonary comphcations, assessed by X-ray examination, occurred in about 90 % of the cases and became evident within 12 hr of eating the offending product. But the severity of pulmonary inflammation was much more marked in those who had ingested I, and in two cases it was so severe that death resulted. In addition several patients were lethargic, indi- cating central nervous system involvement, and many had elevated white blood cell counts.

It is suggested that the use of I in aerosol form might reduce pulmonary damage and mortality considerably, since it is highly unlikely that sufficient I would be sprayed into the mouth to constitute an aspiration hazard commensurate with that presented by liquid hydrocarbon products.

[Once again the menace of accidental poisoning is brought home forcibly. The accidental contamination of food by chemicals poses a similar threat and in this context we recall vividly Dr. J. M. Barnes' words to the Fourth B1BRA Annual Scientific Meeting: " . . . any one of the episodes . . . has caused more illness than all the food additives ever used" (Cited in F.C.T. 1966, 4, 183).]

1410. Dental hygiene with suffactants Riethe, P. (1967). Studien zur Mundhygiene mit grenzfl~ichenaktiven Stoffen. J. Soc. cosmet. Chem. 18, 291.

Aqueous solutions containing 0.5 or 5.0 % of each of eight anionic surfactants were used to clean the teeth foi 8 days. Profile studies of the enamel surface before and after treatment showed only minor superficial changes associated with the removal of plaque. The routine use of commercial toothpastes containing 3 % of anionic surfactant together with calcium phosphate for 4 wk produced effects similar to those seen with the solutions and did not irritate the gums of the subjects. The toothpastes had a negligible effect upon the bacterial flora of the tooth surface.

1411. Getting those ions under the skin Tregear, R. T. (1966). The permeabdity of mammalian skin to ions. J. invest. Derm. 46, 16. Tregear, R. T. (1966). The permeability of skin to albumin, dextrans and polyvinyl pyrroli- done. J. invest. Derm. 46, 24.

The permeability of the skin to chemical compounds is of prime importance in any study of dermal toxicity (Cited in F.C.T. 1963, 1,308; ibid 1964, 2, 279). Tregear (first paper, cited above) has described the permeability of pig, rabbit and human skin to isotope-labelled common ions. When solutions of sodium chloride, sodium bromide or sodium dihydrogen phosphate-disodium hydrogen phosphate were applied to normal skin as 155 mEq/l aqueous solutions, rabbit skin was penetrated at 3-8 nEq/cm2min, pig skin at 0.5-5 nEq/ cm~min and human skin at 0.09-0-16 nEq/cm2min. The difference between the rates of pene- tration of the skin of different species is not explained by any structural differences in the stratum corneum. Measurements of the increased radioactivity of venous blood in human volunteers were difficult to achieve with any accuracy. The steady rates of penetration of sodium and bromine through excised rabbit or human skin did not differ significantly from their rates through in situ skin, but in excised pig skin sodium penetrated much more slowly.

734 METHODS FOR ASSESSING TOXICITY

Ions did not differ materially in their rates of penetration. The prior stripping of pig skin with adhesive tape increased its permeability.

According to Tregear (second paper, cited above), human serum albumin labelled with iodine-131, polyvinylpyrrolidone and two dextran fractions of average molecular weight 9400 and 153,000 respectively were allowed to penetrate excised rabbit and human skin or rabbit skin in situ. Polymers penetrated at a much lower rate than smaller molecules or ions, particularly through skin which remained in situ. If the barrier layer of the skin is regarded as a porous system, most of the pores in it appear too small to accommodate polymers, but adequate to receive compounds of molecular weight less than 300. The use of compounds with an intermediate range of molecular size may help to decide between theories of epi- dermal porosity.

METHODS FOR ASSESSING TOXICITY

1412. Adding sensitivity to the patch test Wolven, Anne & Levenstein, 1. (1967). Techniques for evaluating dermal irritation. J. Soc. covmet. Chem. 18, 199.

The minimal or borderline responses to patch testing with cosmetic materials in labora- tory animals are unsatisfactory and call for some technique by which the sensitivity of the test may be increased. The present paper demonstrates that the intravenous injection of I ml of a 6% solution ofsulphan blue (Alphazurinine 2G; SB) into rabbits or guinea-pigs which have shown an uncertain reaction to routine patch testing makes it possible to detect vascular changes in the skin underlying the test area.

Applications of 2 ~ alcoholic solutions of bithionol (BT) or Temasept lI (TS) to the skin of guinea-pigs were followed by ultraviolet irradiation on five successive days. Seven days later challenge patch tests with oily solutions of BT or TS were made. Animals tested with TS showed mild erythema, but those tested with BT did not. Within 10 min of an injection of SB, the dye accumulated at the site of testing with BT, but not however with TS.

The SB technique appears to offer a useful addition to the screening tests available for detecting simple contact sensitization or photosensitization and may weU supplement the two-stage method described earlier (Cited in F.C.T. 1967, 5, 588).

1413. Multiple patch tests: A time saver? Epstein, E. (1967). Simplified patch test screening with mixtures. Archs Derm. 95, 269.

Screening large numbers of compounds by individual patch tests is a tedious p~ocedure. Where relatively uncommon allergens are concerned, tests with multiple components save time. Various mixtures have now been tested in patients with suspected contact dermatitis: 'cainemix' (benzocaine 5%, cinchocaine 1% and cyclomethycaine I%); 'histamix' (di- phenhydramine 2 %, tripelennamine 2 %, methapyrilene 1%, nitrofurazone 0-2 % and iodo- chlorhydroxyquin 3 %); 'histacaine' (all 8 compounds listed above); 'neohistacaine' (hista- caine mixture plus 20% neomycin); 'triple rubber' (1 ~o each of mercaptobenzthiazole, tetramethylthiuram disulphide and monobenzyl ether of hydroquinone); 'triple antiseptic' (1% each of hexachlorophene, bithionol and tetrachlorosalicylanilide); and 'octaseptic' (0.5 % each of the last three, with 0-5 % dichlorophene and 0-2 Yo each of four brominated salicylanilides).

In general, the results obtained with the mixtures of rubber additives, antiseptic agents and especially the topical medicaments reflected the reactions observed with their individual components.