Contact allergy resulting from the use of acrylate nails is increasing in both users and those who are occupationally exposed.

Acrylates andmethacrylates are the salts, esters and conjugate bases of acrylic acid and methacrylic acid, respectively. They are well known to cause allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) (1). Occupational contact dermatitis (OCD) resulting from the use of (meth)acrylates has been widely reported in beauticians and ‘nail artists’. According to The Health and Occupation Research database, the frequency of OCD in beauticians resulting from the use of (meth)acrylates significantly increased between 1996 and 2011 (2). Over this time period, the number of people working in the industry had increased, and the popularity of beauty treatments continues to grow. Others have also found OCDcausedby (meth)acrylates to be a significant problem among nail technicians (3). Theaimsof this studywere (i) to determinewhether the frequency ofACDcaused by acrylates is increasing among consumers and in an occupational context, and (ii) to describe the clinical features. The term ‘acrylates’, as used here for the sakeof readability, also refers tomethacrylates and cyanoacrylates.