Ascorbic Acid in the Prevention of Chrome Dermatitis

Abstract
The mechanism for the inactivation of hexavalent chromium by ascorbic acid involves reduction to trivalent chromium and subsequent complex formation of the trivalent species. Ascorbic acid and hexavalent chromium react in a ratio of 5:2. This is slightly less than could be expected for oxidation of all the ascorbic acid to dehydroascorbic acid. The chromium-ascorbic acid complex exhibits a strong absorption near 390mμ. The 7:3 ratio may indicate a polymeric species in which the chromium is bound to more than one ascorbic acid molecule.