title: Sodium metabisulfite--a marker for cosmetic allergy?
abstract: A 45-year-old woman developed dermatitis of the face after she applied a cosmetic package comprising day and night creams. Patch tests were performed with the British Contact Dermatitis Society (BCDS) standard, bases + preservatives, and cosmetic series in addition to samples of both creams and the individual constituents. She had positive tests to both cosmetic creams, sodium sulfite from the manufacturer's samples (5% white soft paraffin (WSP)), and sodium metabisulfite (1% pet) in our bases + preservatives battery. Sodium sulfite is a constituent of both cosmetic creams. We assume that the positive test to sodium metabisulfite is a cross-reaction. We hypothesize that a reaction to sodium metabisulfite may be a marker for sulfite allergy in cosmetics and might account for some of the unexplained positives in previous reports.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, South Infirmary-Victoria University Hospital, Old Blackrock Road, Cork, Ireland. mohsinmalik66@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Mohsin M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Malik
authors.forename: Mary A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hegarty
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Bourke
mesh_terms: D003358:Cosmetics; D017449:Dermatitis, Allergic Contact / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010328:Patch Tests; D013447:Sulfites / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D003358:Cosmetics; D013447:Sulfites; C005200:sodium metabisulfite