Effects of minimal personal hygiene and related procedures during prolonged confinement. AMRL-TR-66-146.

Thirty-six healthy male subjects were studied under closely confined conditions in nine 6-week experiments over a 2-year period. The effects of minimal personal hygiene and related procedures were evaluated. No major problems resulted from the lack of bathing, sponging the body, changing clothes and bedding. Body odor, strongest in axilla, groin, and feet, heightened in 7-10 days inside the AMRL Evaluator, but subsided in the second week. The ab:ence of shaving and hair and nail grooming resulted in 25% of the subjects having to trim their mustache, 50% having to trim their fingernails at or after the fourth week, and dandruff und scalp itchiness in almost all cases. Of all restricted hygenic procedures, the use of substandard oral hygiene produced the greatest clinical effect, with all 20 subjects tested developing varying degrees of gingivitis. Limited hygiene during exposure to two 32 C periods produced no major but a number of minor pmblems associated with much dryness of skin and scalp. The types of microorganisms recovered from subject and environment as well as their characteristic buildup and spread over certain body areas under these minimal hygiene conditions are reviewed. Prolonged wearing of full pressure suits was well tolerated in most cases. Constant wearing of bioinstrumentation electrodes attached to the skin irritated all subjects tested. Seven different oral hygiene procedures and the efficu y of various waste management items, including different chemically-saturated wipes and fecal collectors, were evaluated.