Outbreak of eczema and rhinitis in a group of office workers in Greenland.

Disturbed indoor climate may in some cases be associated with illness. In the present paper, we report the results from a thorough investigation of office workers in Greenland, who developed skin and/or airway problems after moving into renewed offices

The usefulness of patch testing with thin-layer chromatograms

30th Congress of the European-Academy-of-Allergy-and-Clinical-Immunology (EAACI) -- JUN 11-15, 2011 -- Istanbul, TURKEYWOS: 000329462201338…European Acad Allergy & Clin Immunol (EAACI

Penetration of aluminium salts through pig skin in vitro

Background: Recently it was suggested to use aluminium chloride hexahydrate in petrolatum at 10% to detect aluminium contact allergy. Patch testing with aluminium chloride hexahydrate at 20% did not demonstrate a higher number of positive test reactions. It was speculated that the constricting effect of aluminium salts might impair skin penetration. Objectives: The purpose of the present study is to estimate the concentration of aluminium in various skin layers and in the recipient phase using different aluminium test preparations on pig skin in an in vitro diffusion cell system. Methods: Full-thickness (7sim; porcine ear skin was mounted in Franz-type diffusion cells. The diffusional area was 0.64 cm2 and recipient volume 4 ml. The dermal side was exposed to a recipient solution consisting of PBS (phosphate buffer saline, pH 7.4). Aluminium chloride hexahydrate preparations in petrolatum and in water at 10% were applied to the donor compartment facing the epidermis for 24 hr. All samples were analysed for total aluminium by atomic absorption spectrometry. The limit of detection was 0.01 μg/ml. Results: No aluminium could be detected in the recipient phase in the six diffusion cells. Conclusions: Neither aluminium in petrolatum nor in water gave detectable amounts of penetrating aluminium in 24 h. The lipophilicity of the vehicle was not decisive