Vaseline Oil

VASELINE OIL, Oleum Vaselini (Pharmacopoeia VII), Paraffinum liquidum, liquid paraffin, is that lubricating oil which in technology is called "first-grade machine oil," i.e., somewhat more purified from the kerosene odor; such oil is yellow in color and rather thick. To obtain white oil, which is also used in technology as a lubricating oil, especially for sewing machines and similar fine and clean mechanisms, thinner oils, so-called "solar oils," are subjected to bleaching; they are treated with strong sulfuric acid, often with an admixture of oxidizing agents, then washed with water and finally bleached by filtering through various powders. The resulting white oil is thinner than the yellow and of poorer quality, as it may contain an admixture of bleaching substances capable of irritating tissues. This affects the inferior quality of white artificial vaseline compared to yellow. Both vaseline oils in their properties (except for consistency) and composition closely approach vaseline and consist of hydrocarbons of the same classes, but with a particle size up to C₁₅. The specific gravity of white vaseline oil (Pharmacopoeia VII) is about 0.885, and of yellow vaseline oil (Pharmacopoeia VII) is 0.885-0.895. Vaseline oil with a small admixture of alcohol is capable of retaining, in the form of a suspension, aqueous solutions and powdered drugs (e.g., salicylic mercury); such suspensions are often injected into muscles, for example, in syphilis. In this case, phenomena of encapsulation of the injected masses and the formation in this way of, as it were, artificial tumors, which received the names vaselinoma and paraffinoma, were often observed; therefore, vegetable oils should be preferred for subcutaneous and intramuscular injections. White vaseline oil is also used internally as a good and mild laxative (1-2 tablespoons per day). Yellow vaseline oil, in a mixture with an alcoholic solution of ammonia and oleic acid, forms an oily liquid that has found application under the name Vaso-limentum, Vasogenum (Pharmacopoeia VII), see Vasogen. VASELINODERMA (vaselinoderma verrucosum), a term proposed in 1916 by M. Oppenheim to designate skin changes of a lichenoid character, with the formation of wart-like growths resulting from the action of impure vaseline, mainly white, containing paraffin. Anatomically and pathologically, vaselinoderma represents pure hyperkeratosis, almost without inflammatory phenomena, which sharply distinguishes it from dermatitis.