Tensidrückstände auf gewerblicher Wäsche und ihre Bedeutung für die dermatologische Verträglichkeitsbewertung

Residues of surfactants are often estimated as a cause of unwanted skin reactions. The Guetegemeinschaft sachgemaesse Waeschepflege e. V. in Germany as an institution of the professional laundries is argueing in favor of an upper limit of 200 ppm surfactants on a piece of textile since long. Pieces which comply with this value are interpreted as quality assured and safe. However, this threshold limit has been defined so far for some types of anionic surfactants only. As nowadays the currently used detergents do contain also other types of surfactants, it seems necessary to renew the discussion on limit values. This study was made to investigate analyses of textile probes from the market and their biological relevance. There was a broad variety of residues according to the amount and type of surfactant. The dermatological effect was not strictly correlated with such a threshold limit, since very low values as well as high levels of residues elicited similar reactions on the skin. Obviously, the type of surfactant played a role. Therefore, until further progress has been made, with respect to product safety such measured values of residues of surfactants should primarily be looked at as orientation values rather than limit values.