Petroleum jelly

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Petroleum jelly or petrolatum is a semi-solid mixture of hydrocarbons. Vaseline is a well-known brand, originally produced by Chesebrough-Ponds, which was purchased by Unilever in 1987.

Contents 1 History 2 Physical properties 3 Uses 3.1 Dangerous uses to avoid 4 Petroleum jelly in popular culture 5 External links 6 References

[edit] History

The raw material for petroleum jelly was discovered in 1859 in Titusville, Pennsylvania where it was stuck to some of the first oil rigs in the U.S. The workers hated the paraffin like material because it caused the rigs to seize up, but they used it on cuts and burns because it hastened healing. Robert Chesebrough, a young chemist whose previous work, distilling fuel from the oil of sperm whales, had been rendered obsolete by petroleum, went to Titusville to see what new materials had commercial potential. Chesebrough took the unrefined black "rod wax", as the drillers called it, back to his laboratory to refine it and explore potential uses.

Chesebrough discovered that by distilling the lighter, thinner oil products from the rod wax, he could create a light-colored gel. Chesebrough patented the process of making petroleum jelly (U.S. Patent 127,568 ) in 1872. The process involved vacuum distillation of the crude material followed by filtration of the still residue through bone char. Chesebrough traveled around New York State demonstrating the product to encourage sales by burning his skin with acid or an open flame, then spreading the ointment on his injuries and showing his past injuries healed, he claimed, by his miracle product.

Chesebrough opened his first factory in 1870 in Brooklyn. The brand name "Vaseline" stems from the German word for water, wasser (pronounced vahser), and the Greek word for oil, elaion.

[edit] Physical properties

Petrolatum is a flammable, semi-solid mixture of hydrocarbons, having a melting-point usually ranging from a little below to a few degrees above 100°F (37 °C). It is colorless, or of a pale yellow color (when not highly distilled), translucent, and devoid of taste and smell when pure. It does not oxidize on exposure to the air, and is not readily acted on by chemical reagents. It is insoluble in water. It is soluble in chloroform, benzene, carbon disulfide and oil of turpentine.

There is a common misconception (resulting from the similar feel they produce when applied to human skin) that petroleum jelly and glycerol (glycerine) are physically similar. While petroleum is a non-polar hydrocarbon hydrophobic (water-repelling), insoluble in water, glycerol (not a hydrocarbon but an alcohol) is the opposite: it is so strongly hydrophylic (water-attracting) that by continuous absorption of moisture from the air, it produces the feeling of wetness on the skin, similar to the greasiness produced by petroleum jelly. The feeling is similar, but petroleum jelly repels water, and glycerine attracts it.

Producers of microcrystalline wax[3] and related materials often produce petrolatums. Some testing standards used by these companies are as follows:

• Drop Melt Point (ASTM D-127)
• Cone Penetration (ASTM D-937)
• Saybolt Color (ASTM D-6045)
• Lovibond Color

Depending on the specific industry the petrolatum is used for, the petrolatum may be USP (United States Pharmecopia) grade. This pertains to the processing and handling of the Petrolatum so it is suitable for cosmetic and personal care applications.

[edit] Uses

Chesebrough originally promoted Vaseline primarily as an ointment for scrapes, burns, and cuts, but physicians have shown that Vaseline has no medicinal effect or any effect on the blistering process, nor is it absorbed by the skin. Vaseline’s effectiveness in accelerating wound healing stems from its sealing effect on cuts and burns, which inhibits germs from getting into the wound and keeps the injured area supple by preventing the skin's moisture from evaporating. "Vaseline First Aid Petroleum Jelly" brand, (which contained carbolic acid to give the jelly additional anti-bacterial effect), has been discontinued.

However, after becoming a medicine chest staple, consumers began to use Vaseline for a myriad of ailments and cosmetic uses including chapped hands or lips, toenail fungus, nosebleeds, diaper rash, chest colds, and even to remove stains from furniture. It is used as trout bait. There are uses for it for pets including stopping fungi from developing on aquatic turtles' shells and to keep cats from making messes when they cough up furballs. In the first part of the twentieth century, petrolatum, either pure or as an ingredient, was also popular as a hair pomade. When used in a 50/50 mixture with pure beeswax, it makes an effective moustache wax.

Most petroleum jelly today is consumed as an ingredient in skin lotions and cosmetics. Although petrolatum is less expensive than glycerol, the most common active lubricating ingredient in skin lotion, it is not used in expensive lotions because it is not absorbed into the skin resulting in a greasy feel.

Petroleum jelly was formerly used as a way to pitch a spitball in baseball. Although the pitch was banned in 1920, pitchers sometimes throw "the spitter" surreptitiously.

It can also be used as tinder when coated on cotton balls. The combination can easily be ignited by a fire starter, burning hot and long, and the petroleum keeps the cotton from getting wet.

Petroleum jelly is commonly used as a sex lubricant, especially for male masturbation and anal penetration. Due to the degradation of latex, it is pointless to use with condoms.

[edit] Dangerous uses to avoid

As the substance became more common in households, it began to be used for a number of medical purposes, some of which medical science has shown to be dangerous or damaging.

• Burns

It should not be used on fresh burns of any kind, including sunburn. Petrolatum traps heat inside, worsening burns. After heat has dissipated, however, it can serve as a dressing for minor burns to soothe later pain.^[1]

• Nasal congestion or dryness

It may immobilize the cilia in the nose, impeding its ability to clean incoming air. As well, if small particles of petrolatum are inhaled from the nose, they may deposit in the lungs and lead to a condition called lipid pneumonia.^[2][3]

• Sex with latex Condoms

Since petroleum is a kind of oil, it interferes with the structure of latex. Using pertoleum jelly with latex condoms weakens the material increasing the chance of rupture, and thereby the chance of conceiving or spreading Sexually Transmitted Infections such as AIDS.

[edit] Petroleum jelly in popular culture

• Tyra Banks expressed her ardent enthusiasm for the health and beauty benefits of Vaseline on her talk show.^[4]

• The lyrics of the song "She Don't Use Jelly" by The Flaming Lips speak of a girl who slathers Vaseline on her toast.

• Elastica included a song called "Vaseline" on their debut album.

• The Stone Temple Pilots have a song called "Vasoline" (sic) on their second album Purple.

• The Talking Heads released a compilation album of their work from 1976-1992 titled, "Sand in the Vaseline".

• The Dresden Dolls rhapsodize Vaseline in their song "The Perfect Fit" : "I've tried bandages and sinking, I've tried gloves and even thinking, I've tried Vaseline, I've tried everything."

• Snake River Conspiracy released an EP titled "Coke and vaseline".

• Ice Cube's infamous song "No Vaseline" is a diss towards his former group NWA (and a vicious pun on anal rape).

• Jake Thackray's song "Leopold Allcox" contains the words "You are the grit in my life's Vaseline".

• In the animated TV show The Simpsons, the character Milhouse Van Houten is said to enjoy the unusual delicacy of Vaseline on toast; Homer Simpson has also been depicted as eating an entire tub of petroleum jelly. In the episode Lisa the Beauty Queen, many of the contestants in the beauty pageant use Vaseline to achieve a "frictionless smile" allowing the lips to move freely back from the teeth. Conversely, in the 1999 mockumentary Drop Dead Gorgeous, several pageant contestants put Vaseline on their teeth in order to make them appear shiney.

[edit] External links

• Safety and chemical properties
• Study of the effect of Aquaphor and petrolatum ointment on wound healing
• Overview of Test Methods
• copies of test methods
• Petrolatum Products

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/327/7426/1289
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ [2]
4. ^ The Tyra Banks Show: "Secrets for Sensational Skin" (HTML). Warner Brothers (14 September 2006). Retrieved on March 11, 2007.

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.