Action of chronic peracetic acid (wofasteril) administration on the rabbit oral mucosa, vaginal mucosa, and skin.

In a long-term experiment on rabbits 0.2% peracetic acid (0.5% Wofasteril) was distributed upon the dorsal skin, the oral and the vaginal mucosa 3 times per week for 12 months. Each type of tissue was applied 153 individual doses. The histological examinations did not yield dysplasias in the sense of a carcinogenic action of peracetic acid. Despite the very high dosage as it will never be demanded in therapeutical measures, the mucosal tissues under study neither showed inflammations nor scar formation after 12 months of administration. Merely in the dorsal skin a loss of minute accessory hairs in the animal fell was observed. From morphological points of view it seems justified to extend the indication of 0.2% peracetic acid (0.5% Wofasteril) to the mucosal membrane for preparatory arrangements of surgical interventions and for therapeutical measures in bacterially induced inflammatory processes. Clinical testing can be recommended. Before permanent use of peracetic acid for hand disinfection the possible hazards of depilation must be tested dermatologically.