In vitro skin decontamination of paraoxon – wet-type cleansing effect of selected detergents

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine optimal conditions for in vitro skin decontamination using water and detergents as decontamination agents and to test the cleansing efficiency of selected detergents. Experiments were performed using a peristaltic pump for showering of pig skin in modified static diffusion cells. Several conditions were tested including different flow rates (from 5 to 33 ml s⁻¹), quantity of rinsing fluid (from 40 to 400 ml) and concentration of detergents (2; 5; 10%). Further, several types of detergents/commercial decontamination agents were evaluated under the selected conditions to find the most effective means of decontamination. The amount of paraoxon removed from the skin surface following wet-type decontamination was detected in the rinsing fluid spectrophotometrically after hydrolysis of paraoxon – a model contaminant. The efficacy of rinsing by water/Spolapon AES 253 increased with flow rate up to 25 ml s⁻¹ and a rinsing volume of 200 ml. Lutensol AT 25 achieved maximum efficacy at the lowest tested concentration (2%). A flow rate of 16 ml s⁻¹, rinsing volume of 100 ml (values from the middle part of the sigmoid curve) and 5% concentration of decontaminant solution were used for further evaluation of detergents as cleansing agents under the selected conditions. Cetylpyridinium bromide (cationic surfactant), carbethopendecinii bromidum (cationic surfactant) and polyoxyethylene-10-tridecyl ether (non-ionic surfactant), SDS (anionic surfactant), althosan MB (cationic surfactant), sodium dodecylbenzene sulphonate (anionic surfactant), neodekont (mixture), tergitol NPX (non-ionic surfactant), Korynt P (non-ionic surfactant) were found to be the most effective. These decontaminants were able to wash away more than 92% of paraoxon from the contaminated skin.

Keywords:

• Organophosphate pesticide
• static diffusion cells
• skin permeation
• non-ionic surfactant
• ionic surfactant

Acknowledgements

The project was supported by MH CZ-DRO (UHHK, 00179906), by Grant IRP20155 and by Long-term development plan UHK and UHHK. The authors are grateful to Dr Ian McColl MD, PhD for assistance with the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the contents of this publication.

Additional information

Funding

The project was supported by MH CZ-DRO (UHHK, 00179906), by Grant IRP20155 and by Long-term development plan UHK and UHHK.