Wax-oil lubricants to reduce the shear between skin and PPE
File(s)s41598-021-91119-0.pdf (2.47 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Prolonged use of tight-fitting PPE, e.g., by COVID-19 healthcare workers leads to skin injuries. An important contributor is the shear exerted on the skin due to static friction at the skin-PPE interface. This study aims to develop an optimised wax-oil lubricant that reduces the friction, or shear, in the skin-PPE contact for up to four hours. Lubricants with different wax-oil combinations were prepared using beeswax, paraffin wax, olive oil, and mineral oil. In-vivo friction measurements involving seven participants were conducted by sliding a polydimethylsiloxane ball against the volar forearms to simulate the skin-PPE interface. The maximum static coefficient of friction was measured immediately and four hours after lubricant application. It was found that the coefficient of friction of wax-oil lubricants is mainly governed by the ratio of wax to oil and the thermal stability and morphology of the wax. To maintain long-term lubricity, it is crucial to consider the absorption of oil into the PPE material. The best performing lubricant is a mixture of 20 wt% beeswax, 40 wt% olive oil, and 40 wt% mineral oil, which compared to unlubricated skin, provides 87% (P = 0.0006) and 59% (P = 0.0015) reduction in instantaneous and 4-h coefficient of friction, respectively.
Date Issued
2021-06-02
Date Acceptance
2021-05-21
Citation
Scientific Reports, 2021, 11 (11537), pp.1-11
ISSN
2045-2322
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Start Page
1
End Page
11
Journal / Book Title
Scientific Reports
Volume
11
Issue
11537
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2021. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-91119-0
Subjects
Adult
COVID-19
Female
Forearm
Humans
Lubricants
Male
Mineral Oil
Olive Oil
Personal Protective Equipment
Skin
Time Factors
Waxes
Forearm
Skin
Humans
Mineral Oil
Waxes
Time Factors
Adult
Female
Male
Lubricants
Olive Oil
Personal Protective Equipment
COVID-19
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-06-02