Subject: Skin permeability of commercial solvents
From: B.Hamilton@irl.cri.nz (Bruce Hamilton) 
Date: Aug 11 1995
Newsgroups: sci.chem

I came across a nice little paper, using living skin rather than dead; 

" Permeability of Commercial Solvents Through Living Human Skin"
C.Ursin, C.M.Hansen, J.W.Van Dyk, P.Jensen, Ib.J.Christensen, J.Ebbehoej.
Am.Ind.Hyg.Assoc.J. v.56 p.651-660 (1995).

From Table VI (Permeability Constants in g/m2h )
Average and ( Standard Deviation )
Dimethylsulfoxide    176  (42)
N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone    171  (59)
Dimethylacetimide    107  (19)
Dimethylformamide    98  (1.1)
Methyl ethyl ketone    53  (29)
Methylene chloride    24  (8.4)
Water  [^3H radiolabeled]   14.8  (0.1)
Ethanol    11.3  (0.5)
Butyl acetate    1.6  (0.1)
gamma butyrolactone    1.1 (0.1)
Toluene    0.8  (0.7)
Propylene carbonate    0.7  (0.4)
Sulfolane    0.2
 
               Bruce Hamilton