Skin Exposure Reduction Paste Against Chemical Warfare Agents (SERPACWA) - Effect of Alcohol Pre-Treatment

摘要

Skin Exposure Reduction Paste Against Chemical Warfare Agents (SERPACWA, previously known as Topical Skin Protectant), has been proposed to complement chemical protective clothing. The skin surface at the closure sites of chemical protective clothing and gear may be vulnerable to chemical warfare agent exposure. The use of SERPACWA on the skin at these closure sites may provide protection against percutaneous threat of chemical agents. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the New Drug Application (NDA number 21-084) as a safe and effective topical drug for use by soldiers for protection against chemical warfare agents. However, the FDA and the Army Combat Developers requested additional studies to determine the optimal conditions for SERPACWA' 5 use. In this paper we report the outcome of one experiment, the purpose of which was to determine if the use of isopropyl alcohol to clean the skin prior to application of SERPACWA had any effect on how well SERPACWA served as a protective barrier. Paired test sites on the volar surfaces of the forearms of six volunteer soldiers either were or were not pre-treated with alcohol and were or were not treated with SERPACWA. All four sites were challenged with methyl nicotinate (Mnic). Mnic exposure results in redness and sometimes swelling from vasodilation caused by the skin's non-immunologic contact reaction to this chemical. Timed skin responses to Mnic were visually evaluated and were measured as flux calculations from laser-Doppler imagery (LDI). When SERPACWA protected sites were evaluated following Mnic challenge, comparisons between alcohol pre- treated vs. no alcohol pre-treatment sites were not different (flux = 51 vs. 61, p > 0.05, and visual scores = 0.1 vs. 0.1, p > 0.05).