Hexachlorophene Autopsy Studies

This blog will focus on babies who were exposed to hexachlorohene, and who died and who were autopsied.

The main study was in France. But other autopsies will also be reviewed.

Again, the question I am raising is the one that that was raised by some of these Researchers. What was the lifetime effect on the babies who survived?

There should have been a long term follow-up to those who were exposed as babies and who lived. This view is expressed in the following letter.

THELANCET, FEBRUARY 20,1982 459
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HEXACHLOROPHENE POISONING
Sir,—Dr Martin-Bouyer and colleagues Jan. 9, p. 91) are to be commended for their skilled investigation of an outbreak of hexachlorophene poisoning in France. This incident may represent but a tiny fraction of an epidemic of much greater geographic dimensions, involving many unreported cases over a period of perhaps twenty years.
Because of its germicidal properties' 3% hexachlorophene emulsion was routinely used in many nurseries of Western Europe and United States during the 1950s and 1960s.2 A widely recommended procedure was to wash thoroughly the entire skin of newborn infants, including the face and the umbilical cord, as soon as possible after birth. This was to be followed by another bath upon arrival in the nursery, and then by daily washes for the entire period in the nursery to "maintain the relatively high skin concentrations of hexachlorophene achieved in this way".

Besides the animal experiments and case-reports cited by MartinBouyer et al., there is evidence that systemic toxic effects occurred in more than a sporadic fashion in man. Shuman and associates4 found a significant correlation between the incidence of vacuolar encephalopathy and hexachlorophene bathing of premature infants examined at necropsy over a seven year period. Only careful retrospective studies such as this may reveal the true incidence of neurotoxic complications during the era of widespread hexachlorophene use. No studies of long-term effects are available. Nor is there enough information to know whether the infants who benefited from hexachlorophene bathing outnumber those who had complications.

The property of hexachlorophene that favours its skin penetration and retention—namely, a high lipid/water partition coefficient—made it popular as a skin germicidal agent. The same property enables this substance to cross the blood/brain barrier, a fact that should not be forgotten when dealing with other preparations intended for topical application and containing lipidsoluble substances.

Neurology Service, V. A. Medical Center, Portland, Oregon 97207, U.S.A. Luis GarcIa- Bunubl
1. Farquharson CD, Penny SF, Edwards HE, Burr E. The control of suphylococcat skin infections in the nursery. Can MedAssocJ 1952; 87: 247-49.
2. Gezon HM, Thompson DJ, Rogers KD, Hatch IF, Taylor PM. Hexachlorophene bathing in early infancy. N EnglJ Mid 1964; 270: 379-86.
3. Gluck L, Wood HF. Effect of an antiseptic skin-care regimen in reducing staphylococcal colonization in newborn infants. NBnglJMed 1961;265: 1177-81.
4. Shuman RM, Leech RW, Alvord EC. Neurotoxicity of hexBcblorophene in humana. Arch Nturol 1975; 32: 320-25.