The Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing is an academic center affiliated with the Division of Toxicological Sciences in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

 

Johns Hopkins School of Public Health

Research Grants 1984-1985

A Novel System for Dermal Absorption and Potential Cutaneous Toxicity Assessment

Richard H. Guy, PhD
University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco, California

Richard H. Guy, PhD, assistant professor of pharmacy and pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco, is developing artificial skin to study absorption of chemicals. He has found that filter paper impregnated with fat molecules simulates the absorptive properties of human skin.

This skin model may replace animals in tests to determine whether cosmetics and drugs are absorbed through the skin. It also will give scientists a better understanding of how such absorption occurs, Dr. Guy said.