title: Glass fiber dermatitis.
abstract: Many workers exposed to glass fibers experience an intense pruritus (itching), sometimes accompanied by erythema, erosions, and dermatitis. Patch tests to glass fibers provoked a papulovesicular dermatitis in about 25% of normal persons. Workers in the glass wool industry, whether or not clinically symptomatic, had the same levels of patch-test reactivity. A battery of skin tests failed to identify persons with an increased susceptibility to glass fiber pruritus. Some workers' skin becomes hardened by continuous exposure. This hardening is lost after a one-month holiday but is quickly regained. Barrier creams had no protective value in preventing glass fiber dermatitis.
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D003872:Dermatitis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D005898:Glass / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D012737:Sex Factors; D012882:Skin Tests