Influence of Surfactant on the Skin Permeation of Methylisothiazolinone and Methylchloroisothiazolinone.

Abstract

Patch tests are often used in safety evaluations to identify the substance causing skin irritation, but the same substance can sometimes give positive or negative results depending on the test conditions. Here, we investigated differences in the skin penetration of two test compounds under different application conditions. We studied the effects of the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and the nonionic surfactant polysorbate 80 (PS) on skin penetration of the preservatives methylisothiazolinone (MT) and methylchloroisothiazolinone (MCT), which are used in cosmetics such as shampoos. The skin permeation of MT was enhanced by SDS but was unchanged by PS. Skin impedance decreased in the presence of SDS whereas PS had the same effect as the control aqueous solution, suggesting that SDS reduction of the barrier function of skin affects the permeation of MT, a hydrophilic drug. Application of a mixture of MCT and MT in the presence of SDS did not affect the skin permeation of MCT whereas the permeation of MT was enhanced by SDS, indicating that the skin permeation of MCT is less affected by SDS than is MT. Thus, attention should be paid to the possible effect of co-solutes, especially hydrophilic drugs.