Safety of Prolonged Exposure of Human Skin to Aqueous Ozone in a Test Hand Hygiene Model

Abstract

Aims: This research assessed the safety of aqueous ozone (AO) on human skin after multiple exposures for up to 40 hours.

Methods and results: Full thickness recombinant human skin (EpiDerm FT, EFT-400) was exposed to AO for 7 seconds per minute for the first 6 minutes of each hour, repeated hourly over four time periods (4, 10, 20 and 40 hours). An MTT assay assessed viability of skin cells after exposure, compared to incubator control, negative control and vehicle control (distilled water). No significant difference in tissue viability was found between the AO condition and any of the control conditions through 20 hours of exposures. At 40 hours of exposure, tissue viability was lower in the AO group when compared with negative control (p = 0.030) but not the other controls.

Conclusions: The current study supports further consideration of repeated application of AO on human skin, such as for hand hygiene.

Impact statement: The present research is the first well-controlled in vitro study assessing the cytotoxicity of repeated exposures of AO on a full-thickness human skin model. This information helps to inform the evaluation of AO as a potential alternative for hand and wound antisepsis.

Keywords: Aqueous ozone; hand hygiene; infection control; repeated exposures.