Introduction. To prevent the transmission of infectious diseases in everyday life activities, it is crucial to ensure the conditions for hand skin disinfection in preschool and school-age children to be safe. Due to the anatomo-physiological features of the skin structure and the weak protective barrier in children, it is essential to assess the toxicity of skin antiseptics intended for hygienic treatment of hands on an adequate model. To date, the most promising group of antiseptics is that of alcohol-containing skin antiseptics, which have the widest spectrum of antimicrobial activity and allow the quick and high-quality treatment of the skin.

Objective. To study the toxic effect of ethyl alcohol under conditions of repeated application to the skin of immature white rats and its subsequent effect on the offspring of these rats.

Materials and Methods. Toxicity and danger studies were conducted on forty immature white mongrel rats (n = 10 females and 10 males per group) using a 70% ethyl alcohol solution. The subsequent study evaluated the long-term effects on their offspring. The functional state of the liver and kidneys was evaluated in animals, biochemical examination of blood serum and urine was carried out. Additionally, the ethanol content in the blood in rats was quantified following a single administration of ethanol into the stomach, application to the skin, and tail. The rate of formation of sensory-motor reflexes was determined in the offspring of experimental rats.

Results. The results demonstrated that there were changes in the functional state of the nervous system in males and females, as well as disturbances in metabolic processes in the liver of rats, which were manifested in changes in some indicators (carbohydrate metabolism, creatinine synthesis). The study of the formation of sensory-motor reflexes in offspring did not reveal any differences between the control and experimental groups. At a single application of 70% ethanol to the skin of sexually mature rats, the ethanol content in blood was determined one hour after its application, at intragastric administration – one hour, two, and three hours later.

Limitations. There is a paucity of data on rat skin histology, no method to enhance transdermal delivery of topical antiseptics was considered, and the mechanisms of interaction of ethanol-containing antiseptics with the carrier, vesicles, and particles (if any) were not investigated. Furthermore, the modification of the stratum corneum of the epidermis, energetic methods, and methods of bypassing the stratum corneum were not studied.

Conclusion. The results of the conducted studies indicate 70% ethyl alcohol to have a skin-resorptive effect on immature white mongrel rats. Therefore, it is not recommended to include ethyl, isopropyl, and propyl alcohols in the formulations of skin antiseptics intended for children under 12 years of age.

Compliance with ethical standards. The Ethics Commission of the Federal Research Institute for Disinfectology has approved a research program on the skin-resorptive effect of ethyl alcohol on immature rats and their offspring (Minutes of the meeting No. 7 of October 21, 2023). The experiments were carried out in accordance with the Directive 2010/63EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of September 22, 2010 on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, and the order of the Ministry of Health of Russia dated April 1, 2016, N 199n.

Contribution: Shaykhutdinova Z.K. – concept and design of the study, collection and processing of material, statistical processing, writing text; Morozov A.S. – concept and design of the study, collection and processing of material, writing text; Pankratova G.P., Bidevkina M.V. – concept and design of the study, editing; Matrosenko M.V. – statistical processing; Vinogradova A.I. – statistical processing, recording of peripheral blood count; Latipova R.I. – statistical processing; Beloyedova N.S. – preparation of laboratory animals for the experiment, collection of material; Poroshin M.A. – analysis of biomaterial for ethanol content, processing of results; Volkova Yu.S. – analysis of biomaterial for ethanol content; Sinitskaya T.A. – general idea and scientific supervision; Safandeev V.V. – concept and design of the study, editing. All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgement. The study was not sponsored and was conducted as part of the sectoral research program of the Federal Service for Supervision in Protection of the Rights of Consumer and Man Wellbeing, entitled “Scientific support of epidemiological surveillance and sanitary protection of the territory of the Russian Federation. Creation of new technologies, means and methods of control and prevention of infectious and parasitic diseases”, which was conducted from 2021 to 2025.

Received: October 8, 2024 / Revised: November 11, 2024 / Accepted: December 3, 2024 / Published: March 31, 2025