Naftalan oil is a thick, black- fulvous or brown liquid, which outwardly looks similar to mineral oils. The particular characteristic of naftalan oil is its high specific gravity (from 0.927 to 0.970). It’s caused by low light fractions content (which can be up to 50% in other mineral oils) as well as high content of naphthenetic and aromatic hydrocarbons and tars. 
The content of native naftalan oil: - naphthenetic hydrocarbons (from 50 to 60%) - aromatic hydrocarbons (up to 15%) - tars (up to 25-30%) - naphthenetic acids (up to 1%) - basic nitrogens (up to0.3%) - water (up to 10-15%)
The basic active substance of naftalan oil is naphthenetic hydrocarbons. Naphthenetic hydrocarbons are basic components of many biologically active substances such as sterols, bile acids, vitamin D, and progesterone. They take part in biosynthesis of steroid hormones in adrenal cortex, stimulating body’s adaptive-compensatory function. In addition to that, there are a lot of physiologically active trace elements (such as zinc, boron, manganese, iodine, copper, lithium, rubidium, cobalt, molybdenum and others) have been found in naftalan oil. They also have effect on the oil’s medical activity. Basic nitrogens as well as naphthenetic acids of naftalan oil are also bioactive substances.
Trace elements’ content of naftalan oil
Trace element | Content (mg%) | Li Rb Cs Ti V Cr Mo Co Ni Zn Cd Hg Al Se J Br P B Mn Cu Fe 2+,3+ | 0.03 – 0.06 0,01 – 0,03 0.005 0,01 0,072 traces 0.008 – 0.08 0.001 0.07 – 0.09 0.001 ñëåäû 0.0082 0.01 0,06 – 0,1 0.01 0.01 0,04 0,03 – 0,012 0,01-0,08 0.01 |
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