canklecat

I think that comment from rydabent was a year a ago, long before I bumped this thread to post my recent experiences with CBD and alternatives.

Yup, there are many chemicals that will penetrate the skin, some of which can cause serious problems.

Regarding that rumor about garlic penetrating the skin, that may be derived from an entirely unrelated chemical. I've done a lot of cooking and meal prep, handling lots of garlic barehanded, including the potent heirloom stuff my grandmother cultivated as bug deterrents interspersed among her fruit and vegetable gardens and flowers. I've never noticed any taste from handling garlic, or detected it on the breath of others who handled garlic. However the odor is so potent and clings to the nasal passages that eventually you do taste it. But not from skin penetration.

I'm betting the story derived from a folk remedy that's been around for decades -- DMSO, dimethyl sulfoxide. It's primarily used in labs to protect cells in frozen tissue (my first experience with it). That's where most folks discovered DMSO crosses the skin barrier. Almost every lab student has tried the DMSO trick -- within moments after skin contact you get a garlicky taste in the mouth. It can also carry other substances, which makes it handy for transdermal drug administration. After these properties were discovered DMSO was widely used by ranchers and farmers as a horse liniment, and many rural folks regard it as a treatment for their own arthritis and muscle aches and pains. It's generally more effective mixed with an anti-inflammatory or NSAID such as aspirin.

It's also potentially dangerous and there have been stories, rumors, legends or myths of crusty old ranchers, farmers or cowboys getting sick or dying of nicotine poisoning when DMSO carried nicotine from the buildup of tobacco on their hands into their system. Conceivable, but I don't know whether that particular story has ever been proven to be true.