Wax-Oil Lubricants to Reduce the Shear Between Skin and PPE

Abstract

Prolonged use of tight-fitting PPE, e.g., by COVID-19 healthcare workers leads to skin injuries. An important contributor is the shear exerted on the skin due to static friction at the skin-PPE interface. This study aims to develop an optimised wax-oil lubricant that reduces the friction, or shear, in the skin-PPE contact for up to four hours. Lubricants with different wax-oil combinations were prepared using beeswax, paraffin wax, olive oil, and mineral oil. In-vivo friction measurements involving seven participants were conducted by sliding a polydimethylsiloxane ball against the volar forearms to simulate the skin-PPE interface. The maximum static coefficient of friction was measured immediately and four hours after lubricant application. It was found that the coefficient of friction of wax-oil lubricants is mainly governed by the ratio of wax to oil and the thermal stability and morphology of the wax. To maintain long-term lubricity, it is crucial to consider the absorption of oil into the PPE material. The best performing lubricant is a mixture of 20 wt% beeswax, 40 wt% olive oil, and 40 wt% mineral oil, which compared to unlubricated skin, provides 87% (P = 0.0006) and 59% (P = 0.0015) reduction in instantaneous and 4-hour coefficient of friction, respectively.

Effects of wearing personal protective equipment during COVID‐19 pandemic on composition and diversity of skin bacteria and fungi of medical workers

“…Therefore, the microbial distribution characteristics on the skin of persons wearing PPE may be different from that of people working in a normal environment. Previous studies 17 have shown that wearing personal protective equipment can induce skin damage such as erythema, pruritus, erosion, and ulceration among others. However, there is no research on the effect of wearing personal protective equipment on the skin surface microorganisms of the health workers.…”