34 newborn infants who had been bathed in a standard manner with Hibiscrub were studied to find out whether it was absorbed percutaneously. Low levels of chlorhexidine were found in the blood of all 10 babies sampled by heel prick, and 5 of 24 from whom venous blood was taken. The detection of chlorhexidine varied greatly with the method and timing of sampling, and no correlation was found between gestational or postnatal age and chlorhexidine levels.