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1579. DMSO maintains its reputation
COSMETICS~ TOILETRIES AND HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS
433
Observations were made of the ciliary activity in the trachea of anaesthetized cats during intermittent inhalation of smoke derived from cigarettes yielding five different concentrations of tar. The index of ciliotoxicity adopted was the number of puffs of smoke required to arrest ciliary movement in the trachea. An increase in ciliotoxicity was found to accompany any increase in the tar content of the cigarette smoke. Nevertheless, it is considered that tar content is not the sole determinant of this aspect of toxicity. The amount of gaseous and particulate material produced in the process of tobacco smoking by man may also be important factors in the overall biological effect.
COSMETICS, TOILETRIES AND H O U S E H O L D PRODUCTS
1579. DMSO maintains its reputation Collom, W. D. & Winek, C. L. (1967). Percutaneous toxicity of pyridinethiones in a dimethylsulfoxide vehicle. J. pharm. Sci. 56, 1673. The dermal penetration of both sodium and zinc 1-hydroxypyridine-2-thiols (NaPT and ZnPT respectively) in rabbits was enhanced when dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) was used in place of water as the vehicle of application. Although NaPT in aqueous solution readily penetrated the skin, the toxic signs (hindquarter paralysis which prevented normal food consumption) developed earlier and death followed more rapidly when DMSO was used. Aqueous solutions of ZnPT produced paralysis and sometimes death only when the animals licked test solutions contaminating their cages, but toxic paralysis and usually death regularly followed applications of ZnPT in DMSO. DMSO did not however assist penetration of the cadmium salt of 1-hydroxypyridine-2thiol (CdPT), which also showed a lack of penetration from aqueous suspension. [The reputation of dimethylsulphoxide for altering the penetration characteristics of many substances which otherwise may be harmless when applied to the skin is thus reinforced. The zinc pyrithione described elsewhere as a useful dandruff application (Cited in F.C.T. 1966, 4, 554; Opdyke et al. Fd Cosmet. Toxicol. 1967, 5, 321) might well become dangerous in such company.] 1580. More about wash-day hands Polano, M. K. (1968). The interaction of detergents and the human skin. J. Soc. cosmet. Chem. 19, 3. The hazard of a practicable detergent may be defined as the extent to which the epidermis of the user may be damaged by the removal or alteration of desirable structures (Cited in F.C.T. 1967, 5, 377). Chapping of the skin by the leaching out of water-binding substances from the stratum corneum comes under this heading. This paper suggests that the loss of amino acids and possibly the soluble proteins may be a parameter for the loss of waterbinding capacity of the human stratum corneum, and may serve as a comparison between the effects of different soaps and synthetic detergents. Unpublished data by G. Smeenk show that there are three natural amino acids which can bind more than their own weight of water, namely ornithine (225 70), lysine (243 %) and arginine (142 70)- Other compounds also contribute to water-binding, and the water-binding capacity of extracts of scales from healthy human skin is 310%. In tests of 5 detergents carried out with a washing simulator, every detergent removed more amino nitrogen than did water alone, and significant differences appeared between the leaching properties of individual compounds. Moreover, arm-immersion tests with 0.1 70 solutions of detergents showed that the sensitive skin of the arm could be irritated by repeated immersion.
433
Observations were made of the ciliary activity in the trachea of anaesthetized cats during intermittent inhalation of smoke derived from cigarettes yielding five different concentrations of tar. The index of ciliotoxicity adopted was the number of puffs of smoke required to arrest ciliary movement in the trachea. An increase in ciliotoxicity was found to accompany any increase in the tar content of the cigarette smoke. Nevertheless, it is considered that tar content is not the sole determinant of this aspect of toxicity. The amount of gaseous and particulate material produced in the process of tobacco smoking by man may also be important factors in the overall biological effect.
COSMETICS, TOILETRIES AND H O U S E H O L D PRODUCTS
1579. DMSO maintains its reputation Collom, W. D. & Winek, C. L. (1967). Percutaneous toxicity of pyridinethiones in a dimethylsulfoxide vehicle. J. pharm. Sci. 56, 1673. The dermal penetration of both sodium and zinc 1-hydroxypyridine-2-thiols (NaPT and ZnPT respectively) in rabbits was enhanced when dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) was used in place of water as the vehicle of application. Although NaPT in aqueous solution readily penetrated the skin, the toxic signs (hindquarter paralysis which prevented normal food consumption) developed earlier and death followed more rapidly when DMSO was used. Aqueous solutions of ZnPT produced paralysis and sometimes death only when the animals licked test solutions contaminating their cages, but toxic paralysis and usually death regularly followed applications of ZnPT in DMSO. DMSO did not however assist penetration of the cadmium salt of 1-hydroxypyridine-2thiol (CdPT), which also showed a lack of penetration from aqueous suspension. [The reputation of dimethylsulphoxide for altering the penetration characteristics of many substances which otherwise may be harmless when applied to the skin is thus reinforced. The zinc pyrithione described elsewhere as a useful dandruff application (Cited in F.C.T. 1966, 4, 554; Opdyke et al. Fd Cosmet. Toxicol. 1967, 5, 321) might well become dangerous in such company.] 1580. More about wash-day hands Polano, M. K. (1968). The interaction of detergents and the human skin. J. Soc. cosmet. Chem. 19, 3. The hazard of a practicable detergent may be defined as the extent to which the epidermis of the user may be damaged by the removal or alteration of desirable structures (Cited in F.C.T. 1967, 5, 377). Chapping of the skin by the leaching out of water-binding substances from the stratum corneum comes under this heading. This paper suggests that the loss of amino acids and possibly the soluble proteins may be a parameter for the loss of waterbinding capacity of the human stratum corneum, and may serve as a comparison between the effects of different soaps and synthetic detergents. Unpublished data by G. Smeenk show that there are three natural amino acids which can bind more than their own weight of water, namely ornithine (225 70), lysine (243 %) and arginine (142 70)- Other compounds also contribute to water-binding, and the water-binding capacity of extracts of scales from healthy human skin is 310%. In tests of 5 detergents carried out with a washing simulator, every detergent removed more amino nitrogen than did water alone, and significant differences appeared between the leaching properties of individual compounds. Moreover, arm-immersion tests with 0.1 70 solutions of detergents showed that the sensitive skin of the arm could be irritated by repeated immersion.