Cytotoxicity of lecithin-based nanoemulsions on human skin cells and ex vivo skin permeation: Comparison to conventional surfactant types.

As constituents of cellular membranes, lecithins feature high biocompatibility and great emulsifying properties due to their amphiphilicity. Additionally, there are expectations that these naturally occurring emulsifying agents can replace other skin damaging emulsifiers like sodium dodecyl sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate. However, cytotoxicity data of lecithin-based formulations on primary human skin cells are scarce.