ABSTRACT
Surfactants are used to cleanse the body and other surfaces. However they interact with the skin to produce a variety of adverse biological effects, collectively called irritation. These interactions are complex and not well understood. Clinical signs such as erythema (skin redness) and dryness (scaling) can occur simultaneously with perceived effects such as itching, stinging, or skin dryness. The clinical signs have traditionally been used as measures of irritation potential, yet they yield little information concerning the underlying 520mechanisms of pathogenesis. New in vivo models are being developed to gain a better understanding of how surfactants interact with the skin. They include
