Dusting Powder

DUSTING POWDER, Pulvis adspersorius, a powder whose purpose is to absorb watery liquids (sweat, blood, pus), as well as to serve for eliminating friction between two surfaces of the skin. A method which is increasingly and more falling out of use, but continues to be applied in the care of the skin of early childhood, for dusting skin folds, in first-degree burns, etc. The basis of dusting powders consists of substances insoluble in water, such as talc, kaolin, magnesium oxide, lycopodium, starch, etc. The powders entering into the composition of dusting powders must be the finest; finished dusting powders before being dispensed from the pharmacy are again sifted through a fine (silk No. 6) sieve (see Powders). The composition of dusting powders prescribed for damaged areas (including areas of the skin covered with a rash) usually includes antiseptics, such as phenol (0.2-1%), salicylic acid (up to 1%, for powders against sweat up to 3%), salol (1%), boric acid or borax (up to 10%), alum (up to 10%), burnt alum (also used against sweat in its pure form), zinc oxide (up to 25%), titanium oxide (up to 10%; not yet in use here), zinc peroxide (ectogan, up to 10%), and many others. There were proposals to introduce into dusting powders lead plaster in the finest powder, basic acetic aluminum salt, and many others (foreign powders - dialone, lenicet, etc.), but these admixtures do not have an antiseptic effect. The insoluble salts of bismuth (dermatol, xeroform) used for the same purpose, as well as calomel, are prescribed, especially for eye powders, in their pure form or with the addition of talc. Talc and kaolin in dusting powders intended for use on mucous membranes or wounded places must be sterilized at high temperature (150-170°). Starch easily swells from the moisture of absorbed excretions and is a good substrate for many microorganisms, why it should not be prescribed in the composition of dusting powders prescribed for wounded or damaged places. Dusting powders having a cosmetic purpose usually receive a perfume (up to 1% of essential oils and synthetic perfumes) and a coloring (eosin, carmine, ochre, etc.) and are called powders.