When soap breaks down the cellular membranes of cells why/how is it safe to use on our skin?

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When soap breaks down the cellular membranes of cells why/how is it safe to use on our skin?

In: Biology

5 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Soap loves to attach to water at one end of the molecule, and fat at the other.

Since the outer shell of cells are made out of fat, soap normally destroys cells upon contact.

Skin cells are protected from mild soaps because they are reinforced with material called keratin. Keratin happens to be the same material that your nails and hair are made out of. Your skin cells use keratin as armour.

The cells of your eyes, throat, lungs and oesophagus don’t have this protection, which is why it is [a very, very bad idea to eat Tide Pods](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmibYliBOsE).

Anonymous 0 Comments

Our skin has a layer of dead cells on the top, as well as natural oils that form a somewhat protective barrier against certain things like soap. When your hands dry out after washing them a lot, that is your oil barrier being removed. Individual cells and viral particles pretty much don’t have as thick of a lipid (lipids are fats/oils) layer as our entire skin surface does, so the soap degrades them more quickly. Our bodies are also able to produce much more oil to keep our skin healthy than each little particle can, so after our hands dry out some we still have living cells beneath the dried out dead ones that can generate more oil.

However, not all pathogens are extremely susceptible to the killing effects of soap, which is why scrubbing and washing off vigorously for ~20 seconds is so important: good soap in the right concentration actually forms small little bubbles called micelles which surround dirt, pathogens and other debris, and allow them to become much more water soluble. That slippery feeling is the soap working, so make sure you feel that before you finish scrubbing, and continue to scrub as you wash away with warm water!

Anonymous 0 Comments

it’s not strong enough to do that usually. That’s why more powerful detergents should be used with gloves.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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