Figure 4: Results of skin moisturizing studies (in μS) for hand sanitizing foam moisturizing formulations containing
BP-BotaniDew NMF and corresponding commercial placebo formulation. Data also includes untreated control site
(p≤0.05).
Discussion
The use of hand sanitizing products continues to grow due to
the continuing threat of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and this results
in increasing cases of damage to the hands of health care workers.
3 These effects can be partly mitigated by the use of gloves,
but it is normal behavior for health care workers to remove
their gloves and then immediately either wash their hands or,
when more rushed, simply apply a hand sanitizer. The damage
from the hand sanitizers can be drastic and may even cause
cracking of the skin that can then expose a person to potential
infection.
Formulating alcohol-based hand sanitizers with glycerin
offers some modest improvements to skin moisturization, but
glycerin is only one single ingredient in a complex mixture of
molecules that comprise the NMF of the skin.4 Some formulations
employ aloe vera polysaccharides to help improve skin
moisturization.5 However, aloe vera is not a component of the
skin’s NMF. Important components of the NMF include small
molecules like pyrrolidone carboxylic acid (PCA), lactic acid
and urea, among others. Sanitizers are effective at removing all
these important skin moisturizing molecules and may even be
able to remove low molecular weight hyaluronic acid from the
skin.
BP-BotaniDew NMF is a unique mixture of important NMF
molecules as well as beneficial botanical components that can
offer skin moisturizing benefits.6–7 Glycerin and glycereth-26,
two well-established alcohol-compatible solvents, were examined
for their ability to bring 3% and 5% of BP-BotaniDew
NMF into clear, stable 2-propanol-based hand sanitizing spray
formulations. It was found that in both formulations employing
the BP-BotaniDew NMF, there was a statistically significant
increase in skin moisturization within the first 45 minutes of
application compared to the placebo, and this improvement
continued out to the end of each study at 90 minutes with repeated
applications of the sanitizing products every 15 minutes.
A commercially available,
alcohol-free hand sanitizing foam
product that employs Benzalkonium
Chloride as the active was
also examined in which various
levels of the NMF ingredients were
incorporated. BotaniDew NMF at
concentrations of 0.5–1.0% was
able to show statistically significant
improvements in skin moisturization
beginning within 15 minutes of
the first application of the product.
The commercial placebo formulation
also caused some initial drying
of the skin compared against the
control site that could be overcome
by addition of the NMF ingredient.
This is likely due to some disruptive
effects of the surfactants used in the
sanitizing foam formulation that
would cause slight initial disruption
of the skin’s lipid barrier.
Ultimate benefits
Until such time that the
COVID-19 pandemic is overcome,
and countries can return to some semblance of normalcy, attention
to preventive measures to try and resist infections will
continue. Principal among these measures will be the continuing
aggressive use of sprayable and pumpable hand sanitizing products.
By mitigating some of the adverse effects of these products,
critical consumer compliance will improve and will help lead to
reductions in the spread of this disease, and in fact, many other
non-COVID maladies that afflict people continuously. Spray
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24 Spray February 2021