§ The Countess of Marasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the effects of the presence of xylenols, a constituent of the disinfectant provided with some organophosphate sheep dips, upon the state of absorption through the skin of organophosphates by humans exposed to sheep dips.
Lord LucasThe small percentage of xylenol in a dip bath is unlikely to have any significant effect on skin absorption of the organophosphorus compounds. A typical disinfectant contains 18 per cent. xylenol, and is added to a dip bath at a concentration of one litre of dip per five-hundred litres of water, giving a xylenol concentration in the bath of 0.036 per cent. This concentration is below that which is likely to damage the skin's epidermis; such damage is necessary to increase the absorption rate.