White Oils

petroleum oils that are colorless, oily, transparent liquids without odor or flavor. They are obtained from distillates of high-quality naphthenic petroleum by purification with fuming sulfuric acid or sulfuric anhydride and subsequent neutralization and treatment with fuller’s earth. Two kinds of white oils are well known—medicinal and cosmetic. The former type has a flash point of 185° C and a viscosity of 28–36 meganewtons per sec per sq m (MN·sec/m²) at 50°C; it is used in the preparation of ointments as a solvent for medicines (camphor and mercury compounds), for softening and protecting the skin, and so on. The cosmetic oil has a flash point of 160° C and a viscosity of 16–24 MN·sec/m² at 50° C; it goes into creams, pomades, and other products of the cosmetic industry.