EVALUATION OF THE EYTEX SYSTEM FOR USE AS A PREDICTOR OF OCULAR IRRITANCY .2. CONDITIONERS AND STYLING AIDS

Eytex in vitro assay was used to evaluate 33 opaque and clear conditio ners and 48 styling aids including hairsprays, mousses, styling gels, and lotions. The assay, which operates on the principle of protein pre cipitation, is quantitative and relatively inexpensive. Two different protocols were used: the rapid membrane assay (RMA) protocol for the c onditioners, mousses, styling gels, and lotions; and the upright membr ane assay (UMA) for the hairsprays. All samples were tested in two or more separate experiments and the scores averaged. One hundred percent of the conditioners, 91% of the hairsprays, and 87% of the other styl ing aids produced qualified Eytex scores. Irritation classes establish ed previously for shampoos were used to determine correlation to Draiz e eye irritation categories. When the Draize eye irritation class was compared to the Eytex irritation class for a given qualified sample, t he correlation was 1.0 for the opaque conditioners, 0.14 for the clear conditioners, 0.87 for hairsprays, and 1.0 for the other styling aids . This study indicates that the Eytex in vitro assay for ocular irrita ncy can be highly predictive of Draize eye scores for opaque condition ers and-styling aid products. Such assays could be useful as a screeni ng tool in new product development.