A FOREARM CONTROLLED APPLICATION TECHNIQUE FOR ESTIMATING THE RELATIVE MILDNESS OF PERSONAL CLEANSING PRODUCTS

The forearm controlled application technique (FCAT) is a method for es timating the relative irritation potential of personal cleansers. The FCAT uses an exposure protocol that is based on consumer washing habit s, and offers greater efficiency than many other methods used to evalu ate personal cleanser mildness. In addition, the FCAT minimizes error due to biological diversity by simultaneously exposing subjects to up to eight rest products. Thus, the FCAT offers greater testing power th an traditional paired-test designs. We have successfully used the FCAT to differentiate a wide variety of personal cleansing products on the basis of expert visual assessments and instrumental measurements. The method presented has been validated with standard control products ov er a period of twenty one months at several different test sites under a wide variety of test conditions.