Abstract:

Surfactants are the main cleaning ingredients in personal care and cleaning products, which may have diverse effects on the skin. The potential of surfactants in skin irritation is related to surfactant structure, concentration, exposure time/frequency, initial skin condition and other factors. During the cleaning process, oil, dirt, sweat and sebum are removed through the action of surfactants. Surfactants may interact with the surface of the epidermis causing denaturation of proteins and induce the elution and damage to the structure of the intercellular cement of stratum corneum. Consequently, consumers may experience a range of cutaneous symptoms including dry skin, burning sensation, and loss of skin elasticity. Meanwhile, as the surfactants penetrate into deeper skin layers, there will be a damaging effect on living cells such as keratinocytes and it leads to a local inflammatory response, causing the release of inflammatory mediators from cells. This process may result in topical skin lesions presenting as red skin, desquamation and erythema. This paper presented a review of literature on the interactions between surfactants and skin. The surfactant behavior in solution, the relationship between surfactant structure and skin irritation, and the interactions with skin lipids and living skin cells were discussed. The future development of methods for reducing skin irritation potential for household chemicals and body wash cosmetics was prospected.

Key words: surfactant, skin irritation, stratum corneum, personal care product