GERMICIDAL SOAPS AND COSMETICS 123 gredients which interfere with activ- ity. Detailed suggestions are avail- able from several of the firms manu- facturing quaternary ammonium compounds. The United States Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and several state laws define drugs as articles intended for use in the cure, mitigation, or prevention of disease. The mere presence of antiseptic and germi- cidal ingredients in a product does not necessarily classify it as a drug. However, a product is subject to the drug provisions of the Act if antisep- tic or germicidal activity are claimed for it. The Food, Drug, and Cos- metic Act defines "new drugs" as products containing new and rela- tively unknown materials, known ma- terials in new preparations, or known compositions offered for new uses. Several quaternary ammonium germ- icides have been safely and effec- tively used in a variety of products, and considerable information on their safety and effectiveness is available. The use of these quater- naries as antiseptic ingredients does not generally place the product in the "new drug" classification. However, each product and label must be considered individually, and consultation with Federal and State Agencies is recommended. REFERENCES (1) Lawrence, C. A., "Quaternary Am- monium Germicides" (1950). (2) "U.S. Pharmacoepia" (XIV). (3) "New & Non-Official 'Remedies" (195o). (4) Rohm & Haas Co., Technical Bulletin, San-1. (5) Eggenberger, et al., "Conductometric Studies of Bactericidal Mechani'sms," Annals N.Y. Acad. of Sciences, 53, 105 (1950). (6) Foter and Nisonger, "A New and Direct Approach to the Evaluation of the Germicidal Efficiency of Semi-Solid Pharmaceuticals," oebid., p. 112 (1950). (7) Alfredson, et al., "Toxicity Studies on Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Chloride in Rats and in Dogs," 7- Am. Pharm. Assoc., 40, 263 (1951). (8) Rohm& Haas Co., Technical Bulletin, San-101. (9) Draize, J. H., and E. A. Kelley, Proc. Sci. Sect. Toilet Goods Assoc., May, 1952. (10) Rohm& Haas Co., Technical Bulletin, San-50, 51. (11) Lesser, M., Drug & Cosmetic Review, p. 130 (1950-51). GERMICIDAL SOAPS AND COSMETICS* By C. A. L^WRENOE, Ph.D. University of Michigan, Department of Bacteriology, .,Inn Arbor EVIDENCE of the early interest in the germicidal properties of ordinary soaps may be had from the publication of studies on these products as early as 1881 when *Presented at the December 6, 1951, Meeting, New York City. Robert Kock (1) reported that some of the potassium soaps had a definite inhibitory action on the develop- ment ofmicro6rganisms. Probably one of the first reports on studies of a medicated soap was made by Nijland (2) who noted that a sodium soap killed Fibrio comma

124 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS (cholera organisms) within one minute, whereas a potassium soap and a medicated (mercurial) soap required ten to fifteen minutes to destroy the bacteria. An early description of a com- parison of the effects of soaps on bacteria in test-tube experiments and the use of several of the agents in hand-washing experiments was made by Symes (3). This investi- gator concluded from his studies that for practical purposes the so- called "disinfectant" soaps were of no more value in the destruction of micro•3rganisms on the skin than were the non-medicated soaps. Yet he pointed out that the combina- tion of potassium mercuric iodide with soap bases proved a useful means for removing and even de- stroying some of the microi3rganisms on hands, but there was no instance where sterilization of the skin oc- curred even in this treatment. In comparing the effects of wash- ing hands with ordinary soaps and with "germicidal" soaps, Norton (4) concluded that more bacteria can be removed by ordinary toilet soaps than by the former types. In other words, the simple procedure of washing the hands or other body surfaces in soap and water is of significant sanitary importance since a clean skin has been found to be able to free itself of many patho- genic or infectious micro/3rganisms. The latter property is not noted in dirty skin surfaces. Various investigators have demonstrated that ordinary soaps are effective in destroying patho- genic micro/3rganisms such as /". comma (5, 6,) Treponema pallidurn (7) Neisseria intracellularis (menin- gococci), and N. gonorrheae (8), streptococci and pneumococci (9), etc. Staphylococci and the Gram- negative bacilli (colon, typhoid, dysentery groups), on the other hand, are quite resistant to the "germicidal" actions of ordinary soaps and some of the earlier "medicated" soap preparations (8, The addition of potassium mer- curic iodide to soap bases has been found to give a product that is germicidal for S. aureus but not against Eberthella typhosa (11, 12, 13). This action against the cocci was believed due to an increased sensitivity of the organisms when exposed to the "wetting" action of the soap which made them more susceptible to the germicidal activity of the mercury compound. The addition of phenol to soaps, on the other hand, is not accompanied with an increase in bactericidal effects. It is apparent from this brief r•sum• of the literature* that the rise and fall in popularity of "germi- cidal" soaps during the past several decades may be in part attributed to some lack in agreement as to whether, or not, the products were actually effective against micro- organisms in the test tube, and in particular to the questionable effects * Comprehensive reviews on the anti- bacterial properties of soaps have been pub- lished by Klarmann, E.G. (Soap & Sanitary Chemicals, 1933 and 1941).