PERCUTANEOUS ABSORPTION AND SURFACE ACTIVE AGENTS 127 (19) Greenberg, L. A., and Lester, D., Ibid., p. 79. (20) Kleinreid, V. A., and Dunn, C. W., Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. Judicial and Administrative' Record 1938-1949. Chicago, Commerce Clearing House, Inc., (1949), p. 734. (21) Draize, J. H., "Appraisal of the Safety of Chemicals in Foods, Drugs, and Cosmetics," The Association of Food and Drug Officials of the United States, Austin, Texas, (1959), p. 57. PERCUTANEOUS ABSORPTION AND SURFACE ACTIVE AGENTS By LEONARD J. VXNSON and B. R. Presented September 23-2¾, 1959, Seminar, New York City MANY CLINICAL and experimental investigations have been reported regarding the effects of soaps and synthetic detergents on skin, but there are comparatively few reports on the nature of the percutaneous absorption of the surface active agents and their relative effects on the cutaneous pene- tration of other agents. Duemling (1) was one of the first investigators to report on the action of wetting agents in facilitating the cutaneous pene- tration of fatty materials. MacKee and co-workers in 1945 (2) described •tetailed studies on the percutaneous absorption of tracers (ferric ammonium citrate, sulfanilamide, acid blue and iodobismitol). They found that the tracers readily penetrated skin from vehicles containing dodecylbenzene- sulfonate, absorption being principally through the pilosebaceous appara- tus. Lateral migration then occurred into the dermis, and there was evi- dence that the tracers even penetrated upward into the basal layer of the epidermis from the dermis. Adsorption through the sweat glands was only fair. The interesting point was made that the character of the "tracer" substance was not of significant influence, for the most part, on the pattern of the distribution in the skin. The usefulness of wetting agents in topical preparations to achieve maximum penetration of bio- logical agents was pointed out by these investigators. Recently, there have been several reports on the action of sodium lauryl sulfate in eliciting the eczematous response in both man and animal exposed to known sensitizers such as NiSO4 and K2Cr207. Nilzen and Wikstrom (3) in 1955 first demonstrated in a modified Landsteiner-Jacobs test the effect of lauryl sulfate (1%) in inducing an eczematous response in guinea pigs repeatedly exposed to 4 per cent NiSO4. Lauryl sulfate and NiSO•, separately, under the conditions of the test did not produce an allergic dermatitis. Alkyl sulfate (Teepol) was shown by * Research Center, Lever Brothers Co., Edgewater, N.J.

PERCUTANEOUS ABSORPTION AND SURFACE ACTIVE AGENTS 127 (19) Greenberg, L. A., and Lester, D., Ibid., p. 79. (20) Kleinreid, V. A., and Dunn, C. W., Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. Judicial and Administrative' Record 1938-1949. Chicago, Commerce Clearing House, Inc., (1949), p. 734. (21) Draize, J. H., "Appraisal of the Safety of Chemicals in Foods, Drugs, and Cosmetics," The Association of Food and Drug Officials of the United States, Austin, Texas, (1959), p. 57. PERCUTANEOUS ABSORPTION AND SURFACE ACTIVE AGENTS By LEONARD J. VXNSON and B. R. Presented September 23-2¾, 1959, Seminar, New York City MANY CLINICAL and experimental investigations have been reported regarding the effects of soaps and synthetic detergents on skin, but there are comparatively few reports on the nature of the percutaneous absorption of the surface active agents and their relative effects on the cutaneous pene- tration of other agents. Duemling (1) was one of the first investigators to report on the action of wetting agents in facilitating the cutaneous pene- tration of fatty materials. MacKee and co-workers in 1945 (2) described •tetailed studies on the percutaneous absorption of tracers (ferric ammonium citrate, sulfanilamide, acid blue and iodobismitol). They found that the tracers readily penetrated skin from vehicles containing dodecylbenzene- sulfonate, absorption being principally through the pilosebaceous appara- tus. Lateral migration then occurred into the dermis, and there was evi- dence that the tracers even penetrated upward into the basal layer of the epidermis from the dermis. Adsorption through the sweat glands was only fair. The interesting point was made that the character of the "tracer" substance was not of significant influence, for the most part, on the pattern of the distribution in the skin. The usefulness of wetting agents in topical preparations to achieve maximum penetration of bio- logical agents was pointed out by these investigators. Recently, there have been several reports on the action of sodium lauryl sulfate in eliciting the eczematous response in both man and animal exposed to known sensitizers such as NiSO4 and K2Cr207. Nilzen and Wikstrom (3) in 1955 first demonstrated in a modified Landsteiner-Jacobs test the effect of lauryl sulfate (1%) in inducing an eczematous response in guinea pigs repeatedly exposed to 4 per cent NiSO4. Lauryl sulfate and NiSO•, separately, under the conditions of the test did not produce an allergic dermatitis. Alkyl sulfate (Teepol) was shown by * Research Center, Lever Brothers Co., Edgewater, N.J.