276 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS proximately 1 cm. 2 of the skin was exposed to the cream. Measuring the cream in this manner prevented the evaporation of ammonia and the chemicals used in the creams. The patches were left on the skin for a pe- riod of about twenty-four hours and scored by the numerical system used by Draize (8). A total of 30 women and 41 men were used for this experiment, ranging from 19 to 35 years of age. Nine of these people had a very slight pink color under the patches as follows: No redness with the control or mer- captosuccinic acid, one with taurine, two with thioglycolic and six with mer- captopropionic acid. These results were not considered significant. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 1. The following organic sulfur compounds, thioglycolic acid, mercapto- $uccinic acid, beta~mercaptopropionic acid, cysteine hydrochloride, thio- urea, and taurine, were tested for hair-curling power at room temperature in aqueous solutions at a pH of 9.5 on one type of human hair. Cysteine hydrochloride and thiourea were eliminated, having shown no appreciable hair-curling power under the conditions of the test. 2. A cream base was formulated and tested for stability at the pH re- quired. 3. Thioglycolic acid, mercaptosuccinic acid, mercaptopropionic acid, and taurine were incorporated in the cream b,ase and in aqueous solutions and tested for hair-curling power. It was found that the aqueous solutions were more effective than the creams. 4. Thioglycolic acid, mercaptosuccinic acid, beta-mercaptopropionic acid, and taurine were tested in aqueous solutions with and without Tween 20 for hair-curling power. It was apparent that the addition of a surface-active agent such as Tween 20 gave better results. To the same solutions polyethylene glycol 400 was added. The use of polyethylene glycol 400 improved the appearance of the hair. 5. The chemicals incorporated in the cream base and in aqueous solu- tions were tested with and without potassium bromate as a fixative. It was found that there was no apparent need for a fixative if the hair was al- lowed to dry on the cutler after being rinsed with tap water. 6. The chemicals were incorporated in the cream base and tested for local and systemic action on rabbits. It was found that thioglycolic acid was more irritant than the other chemicals, while the beta-mercaptopro- pionic acid showed the least irritant effect. In all cases the blood hemoglo- bin content was normal. 7. Thioglycolic acid, mercaptosuccinic acid, beta-mercaptopropionic acid, and taurine were incorporated in the cream base and tested on 71 human beings, using a patch test technique. It was found that none of the chemicals used showed any appreciable irritant effect.

TOXICITY STUDIES ON ACTAMER* By H•.R•4^•r A. Sn•.L^•s•:•, P•I.D. and MoR•s V. SnEL^NSKI, M.D. •rndustrial Toxicology Laboratories, Philadelphia 4z, Pa. Wx,rx4x• T•4E past decade, interest in germicidal and bactericidal ingredients has catapulted from the field of pharmaceuticals to that of soaps and cosmetics. Many new ingredients have been made available to the soap and cosmetic industries. Of especial interest are those ingredients whose lethal effects on micro6rganisms are undiminished or amplified in the presence of soaps and detergents. It is beyond the scope of this paper to touch upon the pioneer work which has been done along these lines. This paper is a report on toxicity studies conducted on Actamer [2,2'-thiobis (4,6-dichlorophenol)], whose germicidal efficiency has been established for use in soaps and detergents. Preparation of an ingredient for successful marketing is based upon a triad of prerequisites, namely: 1. Cost within range of competitive items. 2. Efficiency based upon consistent properties and acceptable labora- tory procedures. . 3. Toxicity based on valid investigations to demonstrate it.,s safety when used in a manner recommended by the man'ufacturer. -.. It is with the latter phase mainly, the toxicity of Actaruer, that we are concerned in this presentation. * Presented at the May 15, 1953, Meeting, New York City.