Pure
phenol is colorless and used in the manufacture of phenolic resins, plastics,
explosives,
fertilizers, paints, rubber, textiles, adhesives,
pharmaceuticals, paper,
soap, and wood preservatives. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of several
phenol decontamination strategies following dermal exposure using the pig as a model for human exposure, and then assess the effect of the two best treatments on
phenol absorption in the isolated perfused porcine skin flap (IPPSF). Six anesthetized Yorkshire pigs were exposed to 89% aqueous
phenol for 1 min using Hilltop chambers (10 skin sites/pig; 400 microl/site). Exposure to
phenol was followed by one of 10 different decontamination procedures: 1-, 5-, 15-, and 30-min water wash; Ivory
soap solution;
polyethylene glycol (
PEG 400);
PEG 400/industrial methylated spirits (IMS);
PEG 400/
ethanol (EtOH);
polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP)/70%
isopropanol (IPA); and 70% IPA. For each of the last five strategies, 1-min treatment washes were repeatedly alternated with 1-min water washes for a total of 15 min. Evaluation was based on scoring of
erythema,
edema, and histological parameters such as intracellular and intercellular epidermal
edema, papillary dermal
edema, perivascular infiltrates, pyknotic stratum basale cells, and epidermal-dermal separation. It was concluded that
PEG 400 and 70% IPA were superior to the other treatments investigated and equally efficacious in the reduction of
phenol-induced skin damage. In addition,
phenol absorption was assessed utilizing the two most effective in vivo treatments in the IPPSF. The assessment of percutaneous absorption of
phenol found the
PEG 400, 70% IPA, and 15-min water treatments significantly (P < 0.05) reduced
phenol absorption relative to no treatment.