Rahma, Annisa;
(2025)
Investigation on skin permeation of 2-phenoxyethanol and its relevance to formulation development for baby wipes.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
Infant skin undergoes continuous maturation of its barrier function, gradually resembling that of adult skin. However, the use of diapers and baby wipes has been identified as a risk factor of impaired skin barrier and altered skin permeability in infants. 2-phenoxyethanol (PE) is a preservative ingredient widely used in baby wipe formulations. Some baby wipe formulations also contain cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), an antimicrobial surfactant. Information regarding the skin permeation of PE in the presence of surfactant(s) is not available in the literature. The aim of the present study was to investigate the permeability of PE in the presence and absence of CPC both in vitro and in vivo. The in vitro evaluation was achieved by conducting permeation studies using porcine skin, human skin, and the skin Parallel Artificial Membrane Permeability Assay (PAMPA). In vivo studies using Confocal Raman Spectroscopy (CRS) were performed to assess the distribution of PE across the skin with a non-invasive technique. Tape stripping (TS) of human skin was also performed to support the CRS data. In vitro permeation data showed that the highest permeation of PE was observed for the vehicle consisting of a high percentage of water (>90 %) with 0.2 % w/w of CPC, which are the typical amounts of water and CPC used in commercial baby wipe formulations. In addition, the presence of CPC significantly increased the permeation of PE (p <0.05) compared with preparations without CPC. Both porcine skin and the skin PAMPA membrane showed good correlations with human skin for predicting the amount of PE permeated (r2 > 0.8). In vivo measurements using CRS allowed assessment of the distribution of PE across the skin. These results were confirmed by tape-stripping (TS) experiments. Notably, both CRS and TS demonstrated limitations in assessing the distribution of PE and CPC in the skin in vivo, primarily related to the Raman signal intensities of compounds under investigation and the amount of SC removed by TS. Considering the points mentioned above, it is worth noting that in vitro studies remain of great value to the personal care and pharmaceutical sectors. Finally, the results of the CRS studies are encouraging for further exploration of this technique to understand skin uptake studies of actives in infants.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Investigation on skin permeation of 2-phenoxyethanol and its relevance to formulation development for baby wipes |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2025. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > UCL School of Pharmacy |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10203521 |
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