Citation

Yamaguchi H, Mohri M, Shiraki K. Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 1999; 70(10): 990-995.

Affiliation

Marine Ecosystems and Environment Research Department, Japan Marine Science and Technology Center, Yokosuka. yamaguchih@jamstec.go.jp

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Aerospace Medical Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10519478

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Water evaporation diminishes in high pressure environment, however it is unknown whether insensible water dissipation from the human skin falls as a function of the increased environmental pressure. We designed the present study to measure cutaneous insensible water loss at various pressures during exposure to a simulated saturation dive. METHODS: Four healthy male volunteers were exposed to eight different pressures between 1 and 18.4 atmospheres absolute (atm abs). Resting insensible water loss from the skin was measured as change in the body weight and corrected for the weight of the respiratory CO2 - O2 gas exchange and the respiratory water dissipation. RESULTS: We made an equation for the relationship between cutaneous insensible water loss and environmental pressure as: w = 14.5 X p(-0.48), where, w is cutaneous insensible water loss in g x m(-2) x h(-1), and P is the environmental pressure in atm abs. The average cutaneous insensible water loss (15.3 g x m(-2) x h(-1)) at normal atmosphere decreased (p < 0.01) to 4.2 g x m(-2) x h(-1) (reduced by 73%) during a saturation dive to 18.4 atm abs. CONCLUSION: The amount of insensible water loss estimated from the equation was comparable to that of reported observations.

Language: en