Vulnerability of the skin to surfactants in different groups of eczema patients and controls as measured by water vapour loss.

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Summary Healthy unaffected skin of the volar side of the forearm of patients with eczema and of controls was exposed during a period of 48 h to a 100 μl of a 2 g/v% solution of eight surfactants and distilled water by the large Finn chamber method. The effect of this ‘standardized skin insult’ was evaluated by means of skin water vapour loss measurements, using the Servo Med Evaporimeter. Clear differences in reaction as caused by the different surfactants could be observed. The subgroup of patients with atopic dermatitis reacted more severely than the subgroup of healthy controls with respect to the synthetic detergents. The alkaline soaps were tolerated relatively well in this group. No significant differences in reaction upon the exposure of the surfactants could be noted between the subgroup of patients with irritant contact dermatitis and the subgroup of healthy controls.