title: Copper hypersensitivity.
abstract: The world production of copper is steadily increasing. Although humans are widely exposed to copper-containing items on the skin and mucosa, allergic reactions to copper are only infrequently reported. To review the chemistry, biology and accessible data to clarify the implications of copper hypersensitivity, a database search of PubMed was performed with the following terms: copper, dermatitis, allergic contact dermatitis, contact hypersensitivity, contact sensitization, contact allergy, patch test, dental, IUD, epidemiology, clinical, and experimental. Human exposure to copper is relatively common. As a metal, it possesses many of the same qualities as nickel, which is a known strong sensitizer. Cumulative data on subjects with presumed related symptoms and/or suspected exposure showed that a weighted average of 3.8% had a positive patch test reaction to copper. We conclude that copper is a very weak sensitizer as compared with other metal compounds. However, in a few and selected cases, copper can result in clinically relevant allergic reactions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermato-Allergology, National Allergy Research Centre, Copenhagen University Hospital Gentofte, 2900 Hellerup, Denmark.
authors.forename: Simon W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Fage
authors.forename: Annesofie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Faurschou
authors.forename: Jacob P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Thyssen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003300:Copper / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D003429:Cross Reactions; D004342:Drug Hypersensitivity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007477:Ions; D009532:Nickel / Q000276:immunology; D010328:Patch Tests; D015995:Prevalence
chemical_list: D007477:Ions; D003300:Copper; D009532:Nickel
keywords: contact hypersensitivity; copper; dental; dermatitis