Add water to make nascent iodine on skin

United States Patent 5,232,914
Fellman August 3, 1993
Solid, storage-stable, germicidal, pre-iodine composition

Abstract
A solid, storage-stable, germicidal, pre-iodine composition comprises in dry admixture with each other a solid oxy-compound of iodine, a solid reducing agent for the oxy-compound of iodine, and a solid desiccant used in amount sufficient to combine during the storage cycle of the composition with ambient and/or endogenous water. The oxy-compounds of Iodine are iodic acid, Iodine pentoxide, potassium iodate and sodium iodate. Preferred reducing agents are ascorbic acid, dihydroxy fumaric acid, the thiol sugars and cysteine. A preferred combination desiccant and Iodine solvating agent is polyvinyl pyrrollidone having a molecular weight of from 10,000 to 1,000,000. The composition is storage-stable for an indefinite period. Upon the addition of water, the oxy-compound of iodine is reduced to nascent iodine, which, in application, serves its well-known germicidal function.