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Petroleum Jelly
What
Is Petroleum Jelly?
Chemical
Composition
By
Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
What Is Petroleum Jelly?
Petroleum jelly or petrolatum was discovered
as a paraffin-like material coating oil rigs.
Since then, it has been used in various ointments
and as a lubricant. Here is a look at what petroleum jelly is and its chemical
composition.
Petroleum jelly is made by the waxy petroleum
material that formed on oil rigs and distilling it.
The lighter and thinner oil-based products
make up petroleum jelly, also known as white petrolatum or simply as
petrolatum.
Robert Chesebrough is the chemist who devised
and patented this process (U.S. Patent 127,568) in 1872.
Basically, the crude material undergoes
vacuum distillation. The still residue is then filtered through bone char to
yield petroleum jelly.
At room temperature, petroleum jelly is an
odorless semi-solid which consists of a mixture of hydrocarbons.
The primary hydrocarbon is
1,1,2-Trimethylbenzeindole (C15H15N), which has a CAS number 8009-03-8.
Petroleum Jelly Uses
Petroleum jelly is an ingredient in many
cosmetics and lotions.
Originally it was marketed as a burn
ointment.
While petroleum jelly does not cure burns or
other wounds, it does seal a cleaned burn or injury off from contamination or
further infection.
Petroleum jelly also may be applied to dry or
chapped skin to seal in moisture.
A variation known as red veterinary petroleum
confers some protection against UV (ultraviolet) exposure and has been used as
a sunscreen.
Safety Concerns
While petroleum jelly is widely used, it
often contains Mineral Oil Aromatic Hydrocarbons (MOHA) and polyaromatics,
which may be carcinogenic.
Anne
Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
Introduction
Ph.D.
in biomedical sciences from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville - Oak
Ridge National Laboratory.
Science
educator with experience teaching chemistry, biology, astronomy, and
physics at the high school, college, and graduate levels.
ThoughtCo
and About Education chemistry expert since 2001.
Widely-published
graphic artist, responsible for printable periodic tables and other
illustrations used in science.
Experience
Anne
Helmenstine, Ph.D. has covered chemistry for ThoughtCo and About Education
since 2001, and other sciences since 2013. She taught chemistry, biology,
astronomy, and physics at the high school, college, and graduate levels.
She has worked as a research scientist and also abstracting and indexing
diverse scientific literature for the Department of Energy.
In
addition to her work as a science writer, Dr. Helmenstine currently serves as a
scientific consultant, specializing in problems requiring an interdisciplinary
approach. Previously, she worked as a research scientist and college
professor.
Education
Dr.
Helmenstine holds a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the University of
Tennessee at Knoxville and a B.A. in physics and mathematics with a minor
in chemistry from Hastings College. In her doctoral work, Dr. Helmenstine
developed ultra-sensitive chemical detection and medical diagnostic tests.
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and Dotdash
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