Contact allergy to ingredients of hair cosmetics in female hairdressers and clients--an 8-year analysis of IVDK data.
Not only hairdressers, but also their clients or home-users of hair cosmetic products may become sensitized to one of the product constituents. The present analysis addresses the question whether the pattern of sensitization is different in these 2 groups and includes female patients who consulted with the participating centres of the IVDK (http://www.ivdk.org) between 1995 and 2002, and in whom hair cosmetics have been considered as being causative of their contact dermatitis. Among these, 2 subgroups were identified: (i) patients, currently or previously working as hairdressers, diagnosed with occupational skin disease (H, n = 884) and (ii) patients who never worked as hairdressers, i.e. clients (C, n = 1217). Previous atopic eczema was twice as common among H, who were also much younger (median age 24 versus 46 in C). Analysis of sensitization frequencies and patterns showed the well-known decline of contact allergy to glyceryl monothioglycolate (GMTG) in H from 31.2% to 8.5%. Among the C, 1.7% were allergic to GMTG. Concerning p-phenylenediamine, a steady decline from 27.6% to 17.2% was observed in H, while no trend was found in C (12.6% and 16.6% in the first and the last 2-year period, respectively). Conversely, a very slight decline of p-toluenediamine sensitization was observed in H (from 29.5% to 24.8%), while at the same time a significant increase was noted in C (from 8.7% to 16.7%). A slighter increase was also noted with ammonium persulfate in C (3.1-6.8%), while the proportion of H sensitized remained largely constant at about 26%.
Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany. wolfgang.uter@rzmail.uni-erlangen.de
Wolfgang
W
Uter
Holger
H
Lessmann
Johannes
J
Geier
Axel
A
Schnuch
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000485:Allergens / Q000009:adverse effects; D001505:Beauty Culture; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D017449:Dermatitis, Allergic Contact / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006203:Hair Preparations / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization; D015994:Incidence; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010328:Patch Tests; D010361:Patients; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment
D000485:Allergens; D006203:Hair Preparations