Maintaining skin health in the age of COVID-19

It is well known that excessive hygiene of the hands can leave dry, irritated skin, and consequentially a compromised barrier against infection. Excessive washing can also disrupt the balance of the skin microbiome, another factor which contributes to both skin health and immunity. BASF sought to improve the negative effects of sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) - a common surfactant used in hygiene products - on the skin integrity and on the skin microbiome. Evaluation of Rapeseed phytosterols has shown not only help with the recovery of the physical skin barrier but also re-balancing of skin microbiome after exposure to SLS.

COVID-19, the disease caused by a novel coronavirus in 2019, has fundamentally changed day-to-day life for most of the world. There has been a renewed focus on personal protection measures (PPMs) to reduce the spread of the pandemic. These PPMs include social distancing, wearing a face covering or mask in public, and hand washing to prevent the spread of the disease. 1 Hand washing, when done correctly, is efficient at killing a wide array of microorganisms, including coronaviruses. 2-4 This is largely due to the surfactants in soap having an amphiphilic nature that disrupts the phospholipid bilayer, thus inactivating viruses and bacteria alike. 5

While the use of soap is important to prevent the spread of pathogenic organisms, frequent use can cause unintended consequences such as an unbiased removal of beneficial bacteria as well as dry, chapped skin. 6-10 This is largely due to surfactants’ efficiency at removing lipids and other essential components from skin, resulting in damage to the skin barrier. The physical skin barrier is the horny layer made of dead corneocytes and intercellular lipids. This barrier limits water evaporation and prevents penetration of a myriad of external aggressors, such as invading pathogens.