Contact Allergy—Emerging Allergens and Public Health Impact

Wolfgang Uter, Thomas Werfel, Jean-Pierre Lepoittevin and Ian R. White
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Wolfgang Uter: Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, University of Erlangen/Nürnberg, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
Thomas Werfel: Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Division of Immunodermatology and Allergy Research, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany
Jean-Pierre Lepoittevin: Laboratoire de Dermatochimie, University of Strasbourg, Institut Le Bel, 67081 Strasbourg, France
Ian R. White: St. John’s Institute of Dermatology, Guy’s Hospital, London SE1 9RT, UK

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 7, 1-40

Abstract: Contact allergy (sensitisation) and allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) resulting from it have a considerable public health impact. For the present review, all pertinent articles were systematically searched via Medline and Web of Science™; additionally, all available issues of the journals “Contact Dermatitis” and “Dermatitis” were manually searched, covering the years 2018–2019, thereby extending and re-focusing a previous similar review. New allergens, or previously described allergens found in a new exposure context or of other current importance, are described in sections according to substance classes, e.g., metals, preservatives, fragrances. As a common finding in many investigations, a lack of information on product composition has been noted, for instance, regarding a newly described allergen in canvas shoes (dimethylthiocarbamylbenzothiazole sulfide) and, most notably, absence of co-operation from manufacturers of glucose-monitoring devices and insulin pumps, respectively. These latter devices have been shown to cause severe ACD in a considerable number of diabetic patients caused by the liberation of isobornyl acrylate and N,N’-dimethylacrylamide, respectively, as demonstrated by an international collaboration between dermatologists and chemists. Improved and complete ingredient labelling for all types of products, and not just as we have with cosmetics at present (apart from full listing of fragrance substances) in Europe, must be put on the legislative agenda.

Keywords: allergic contact dermatitis; contact allergy; contact sensitisation; epidemiology; prevention; review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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