How does ph affect the human skin?

I am having a science fair at my school. My question is, How does ph affect the human skin?

How does ph affect the human skin?
Extreme pH(s) will affect the human skin adversely. In low pHs (acidic) the skin is pretty much dissolved. This is usually highly painful, fortunately for me, I have never spilled extremely concentrated acid on my body. However, at high pHs (basic) the fats in the skins begin a process in which i turns into a soap and litteraly slides off the body (gruesome) as bases are caustic! This isn't nearly as painful as acid burns however.








ACIDS:





"Strong acids and most concentrated acids are dangerous, causing severe burns for even minor contact. Generally, acid burns are treated by rinsing the affected area abundantly with running water (15 minutes) and followed up with immediate medical attention. In the case of highly concentrated acids, the acid should first be wiped off as much as possible, otherwise the reaction of the acid dissolving in the water could cause severe thermal burns. In addition to dangers from the acidity, even dilute solutions of weak acids may also be dangerous, due to toxic or other effects of the ions involved. See an appropriate MSDS for more specific information."





BASES:


"A strong base is a base which hydrolyzes completely, raising the pH of the solution towards 14. Strong bases like strong acids attack living tissue and cause serious burns. They react differently to skin than acids do so while strong acids are corrosive, we say that strong bases are caustic."





Be very careful with all chemicals!
Reply:pH,Whether very high or very low,will corrode the skin.Acid will become very corrosive at pH 1 but alkaline will become corrosive at pH 9
Reply:it does affect the skin .


for eg conc H2SO4(low ph) has a very strong dehydrating effect on the skin.


while conc. HNO3(low ph) damages the skin to some extent %26amp; also imparts a yellow colour to it.
Reply:they have described well abt the effects of pH on skin...in the followin website...


http://www.cwimedical.com/incontinence-s...


hope it helps...

crocus