The Influence of Emulsifying Agents on the Antiseptic Activity of Certain Dermatologic Preparations*

Study of Anionic and Cationic Surfactants in a Hydrophilic Ointment Base I. The Screening Program

“…S P. XVI however has reverted to the sodium lauryl sulfate formula. Barker and DeKay (1) shoMed that the hydrophilic ointment U. S. P XIV in which an anionic surfactant, sodium lauryl sulfate, is used has a greater release of medication than the other ointrcent bases containing nonionic surfactants. It f a s heen claimed that nonionic surfactants are less irritating than the anionic or cationic types (5) ; horn ever, several ionic surfactants have received widespread use in pharmaceutical products.…”

“…Oil-in-water type emulsion bases have several advantages over and are preferred to water-in-cil emulsion ointment bases (1,2). A representative example of an oil-in-water type emulsion base became official in the U. S. P. XI11 under the title of hydrophilic ointment and has been used extensively since that time (3).…”