Dermatitis in hairdressers (II). Management and prevention.
Hand dermatitis in hairdressers is caused by a variety of factors. Important are the sensitizing and irritant capacities of some hair-cosmetic ingredients, unsafe packaging which causes contamination of the hands, work tables and instruments with hazardous chemicals, absence of protection with adequate gloves and ignorance of safe handling of these chemicals. A strategy is proposed, based on improvement of the safety of ingredients and packaging, use of vinyl gloves and introduction of safe hairdressing procedures. Introduction of this strategy in hairdressing salons with 16 cases of moderate to severe contact dermatitis reduced the number of cases of active dermatitis to 3 in 4 months. The value of pre-employment screening is discussed and the necessity of cooperation of centers of occupational dermatology is emphasized.
van der Walle
H B
HB
Centre of Occupational Dermatology, Ziekenhuis Rijnstate GZ, Arnhem, The Netherlands.
D001505:Beauty Culture; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D017449:Dermatitis, Allergic Contact / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D017453:Dermatitis, Irritant / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009783:Dermatitis, Occupational / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006203:Hair Preparations / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006229:Hand Dermatoses / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D015995:Prevalence; D011482:Protective Devices; D012307:Risk Factors; D016526:Workload
D006203:Hair Preparations