Sub-acute toxicity of hand sanitizer dermal exposure on albino rat (Rattus norvegicus)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in unprecedented awareness and use of hand sanitizer among the populace than seen before. This study used dermal sub-acute toxicity to assess the effect of triclosan-containing hand sanitizer on Rattus norvegicus skin. The research was conducted due to the toxicological and biochemical claims on the effect of triclosan. The study was a 14-day sub-acute dermal toxicity test following the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guideline on animal testing with preferred test strategy by rubbing to emulate normal hand sanitizer use. The result revealed that triclosan-containing hand sanitizer induced no observable effect on the skin of rats, there was no induced liver dysfunctions, Oestrogen (E2) and Luteinizing hormone levels were normal as in the control. Based on the parameters studied, the hand sanitizers tested is considered safe on skin for consumer use in hand hygiene. It is recommended that more toxicological researches should be carried out on chronic exposures to hand sanitizers, to ensure safety of the populace in compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals