Skin barrier function of submarine crew in a closed working environment

Objective To investigate the effects of closed working environment in submarine on human skin barrier function. Methods Thirty cases of young men were simply randomly selected. Indicators of skin barrier functions including stratum corneum hydration (SCH), melanin index (MI), erythema index (EI) and transepidermal water loss (TEWL) were noninvasively detected and compared on three sites of skin (forehead, back of hand, and abdomen) of every subject at two different time point of before (T₀) and 48 hours after (T₁) submarine commission respectively. Results MI and EI of the subjects' forehead and back at T₁decreased signifcantly compared with those at T₀. There was no signifcant change in MI and EI of abdominal skin. SCH and TEWL of all three sites of skins varied little between T₀and T₁after tape strips. TEWL increased signifcantly on skins of forehead, back of hand, and abdomen at T₁comparing with those at T₀(P< 0.05), and the recovery rate decreased (P< 0.05). Conclusion A long term (> 2 months) work in a closed environment as submarine will impair human stratum corneum integrity and pigment barrier, but impact little on SCH and TEWL as observed.