Uses
The dominant use of oleic acid is as its sodium salt, which a major component of many kinds of soap as an emulsifying agent. Also it is used as emollient. Small amounts of oleic acid are used as an excipient in pharmaceuticals, oleic acid is used as an emulsifying or solubilizing agent in aerosol products. Oleic acid is also used to induce lung damage in certain types of animals, for the purpose of testing new drugs and other means to treat lung diseases. Specifically in sheep, intravenous administration of oleic acid causes acute lung injury with corresponding pulmonary edema. This sort of research has been of particular benefit to premature newborns, for whom treatment for underdeveloped lungs (and associated complications) often is a matter of life and death.
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