BACKGROUND Preservatives present in cosmetics and other industrial products can cause allergic contact dermatitis. The aim of the study was to assess the frequency of allergy to selected preservatives in consecutive patients examined due to contact dermatitis in the Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, and to establish whether individuals sensitized to formaldehyde react simultaneous...

BACKGROUND Hairdressers are one of the largest occupational groups attending our Occupational Dermatology Clinic. However, few seek workers' compensation for their occupational dermatitis. OBJECTIVES To retrospectively analyse and compare workers' compensation claims data and diagnosed disease data for occupational contact dermatitis in hairdressers from 1993 to 2009, for the state of Victori...

Because of the widespread use of botanicals, it has become crucial for health professionals to improve their knowledge about safety problems. Several herbal medicines contain chemicals with allergenic properties responsible for contact dermatitis. Among these, one is Rosmarinus officinalis L. (rosemary), a plant used since ancient times in folk medicine; at the present time it is used worldwide...

BACKGROUND A 43-year-old woman was referred by her occupational health service with suspected occupational contact dermatitis. In connection with the investigation, a workplace visit was undertaken at her company, which used an adhesive based on pre-polymeric diphenylmethane diisocyanate in one of its units. During the visit, we became aware of six other employees with skin problems who were th...

Epicutaneous patch testing is the gold standard method for the diagnosis of allergic contact dermatitis. Despite this knowledge, many clinical dermatologists do not offer patch testing in their offices or offer testing with only a limited number of allergens. Introduced in 1995, the Thin-Layer Rapid Use Epicutaneous Test originally contained 23 allergens and one control. In 2007, five additiona...

We reported a case of allergic contact dermatitis three weeks after the H1N1 vaccine, probably involving thimerosal additive. Patients should be aware of this possible unusual delayed reaction.